La UE se queda aún más atrás de EEUU en la carrera por los minerales críticos

The European Union risks falling even further behind the United States in the race to secure critical minerals, as the West seeks to counter China's dominance in essential components for defense and green technology, according to European officials. The United States has invested heavily in the past two years to ensure access to rare metals and other materials used in strategic technologies, particularly those for which China controls global production.

Washington has announced $40 billion in provisional financing for mining projects since 2022 and has acquired stakes in several domestic miners. The U.S. government has also lobbied for American companies to win bids for mines in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. The EU's position The EU has chosen dozens of strategic projects to benefit from faster permit processes over the past 18 months.

The EU and member states have committed €6 billion this year to mineral projects, but industry warns progress is too slow to revive the sector. Admiring the Americans Bernd Schäfer, chief executive of EIT RawMaterials, a group representing European critical minerals industry, admires the Americans for taking an idea and making it work, while Europeans tend to hesitate, overcomplicate, speak and waste time.

Avoiding China Meanwhile, the United States is also seeking to form a coalition of countries that can work together to build supply chains that avoid China through a Geostrategic Resources Commitment Forum (Forge). However, given the hostile approach of the U.S. administration towards the EU under Donald Trump, this measure is increasing skepticism in Brussels.

The EU cannot be deceived by negotiations with the U.S., said a European official. We need to do what the U.S. is doing: buy stakes, move fast and use financial tools to develop the critical minerals supply chain before a new strategy is presented this autumn. U.S. unilateralism Under Trump, the U.S. was erratic and unpredictable across the board.

One could not simply expect everything to go smoothly. EU efforts The EU's efforts to secure its supply chain have so far focused on designating strategic mining, processing, and recycling projects that benefit from faster permits, although no public funding is guaranteed. In contrast, the Trump administration has invested heavily in developing its supply chain, including stakes in rare earth producers both in the U.S. and Europe.

The Pentagon made a $400 million equity investment in rare earth producer MP Materials in the summer, along with a $150 million loan. It also signed a 10-year agreement to establish a minimum price of $110 per kg for neodymium-praseodymium alloy, used in permanent magnets for technologies such as electric vehicles and robotics. The risk The U.S. risk of becoming a second China for Europe in terms of dependence on rare earth metals was expressed by Schäfer.

Schäfer and the former official also expressed concern about U.S. investments in European critical minerals companies. USA Rare Earth, in which the U.S. government holds a 10% stake, recently acquired British rare earths company Less Common Metals and acquired a 13% stake in French Cartere last month. European Court of Auditors warned in February that while Brussels had chosen 75 strategic projects to benefit from simplified permitting and access to investment, it was unlikely many would be completed on time to help the bloc meet its national supply development goals by 2030.

A mining executive close to one of the projects said EU efforts in minerals had been generally disappointing in terms of financial support and that obtaining permits remained complicated. Such projects are good marketing, but not a radical change, they said.