Canada and the USA have finalised an agreement to collaborate on improving the security of supply chains and ensure the future competitiveness of their critical minerals industries. The announcement follows a June 2019 commitment by the countries' leaders.
The Canada-US Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration advances the two nations' interests in securing supply chains for the critical minerals needed for manufacturing sectors, including communication technology, aerospace and defence, and clean technology.
With goods and services worth billions of dollars moving between Canada and the USA every day, both economies benefit by working together, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan said. "By finalising [the collaboration], we are advancing secure access to the critical minerals that are key to our economic growth and security - including uranium and rare earth elements - while bolstering our competitiveness in global markets and creating jobs for Canadians," he said.
The Action Plan will guide cooperation in areas such as industry engagement; efforts to secure critical minerals supply chains for strategic industries and defence; improving information sharing on mineral resources and potential; and cooperation in multilateral fora and with other countries. It outlines a range of joint activities including research and development cooperation, supply chain modelling, and increased support for industry.
Experts from both countries are to meet in the coming weeks to advance joint initiatives on shared mineral security concerns, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) said.
Canada in December announced that it had joined the US-led, multi-country Energy Resource Governance Initiative, which aims to promote secure and resilient supply chains for critical energy minerals. The country supplies of 13 of the 35 minerals that the USA has identified as critical to economic and national security, and also supplies around one-quarter of the USA's uranium needs, NRCan said.
