During a visit to the Asian country, Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed a pact seeking an alternative to Chinese dominance in the processing of critical minerals. Tokyo should nominate the American for the Nobel Peace Prize. US President Donald Trump praised the new Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, meeting her in Tokyo this Tuesday (10/28), when the two leaders signed trade agreements that include American access to rare earth elements.
“It is a great honor to be with you, especially so soon, as you will be, I believe, one of the greatest prime ministers,” Trump told Takaichi in the Akasaka Palace guest house.
Takaichi applauded Trump’s efforts to resolve global conflicts and promised to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to the White House. The Republican’s nomination for the award has been verbally defended by his administration since taking office in January.
The agreement signed by Trump and Takaichi includes collaboration in the fields of nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. Tokyo has promised to invest $550 billion (R$2.9 trillion) in the United States in loans and guarantees, as part of a deal to get relief from import tariffs imposed by Trump.
The United States seeks alternatives to Chinese minerals
As Tokyo seeks to bring its nuclear power back to export markets, the United States seeks to reduce China’s dominance of key electronic components.
Japan and the United States will use coordinated economic policy tools and investments to accelerate the “development of diverse, liquid, and equitable markets for critical minerals and rare earths,” the White House said in a statement.
The countries are considering establishing a mutual storage mechanism for critical minerals, as well as cooperating with international partners to ensure supply chain security, the statement said.
Despite not directly mentioning China in its statement, Washington reopened the trade war after Beijing, which processes more than 90% of the world’s rare earths, restricted exports of the critical minerals. Trump has sought to include access to critical minerals as an alternative to Chinese supplies in several rounds of negotiations, including with Brazil.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Thursday in South Korea to discuss a deal that would eliminate the surtax on Chinese products and export controls on rare earths.
Nuclear energy on the table
In a briefing for the negotiations, Japan mentioned mutual interest in cooperating in building next-generation AP1000 nuclear reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs).
These projects could involve Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba Group and others, as well as other areas of cooperation.
Nuclear energy, including next-generation reactors, as a matter of greater energy security, affordable energy supply and export technology, is among the top priorities of Takaichi, who last week became Japan’s first female prime minister.
Japan shut down all its reactors after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, caused by a powerful earthquake in 2011 and subsequent tsunami. China, France, South Korea and Russia currently dominate global exports of nuclear technology.
gq/md (Reuters, AFP)
Source: Terra
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