Securing access to critical metals – is US and EU collaboration possible? Supply, demand and contrasting approaches to security in critical metals

Alongside decarbonisation, the digital transition is leading to higher demands for specialty metals and rare earths elements. With the chemical properties of cobalt, lithium and gallium amongst others being crucial to the production of advanced technologies, and the lack of substitutes, these critical metals are imported from abroad from specific locations.
This concentration of resources, and the increased risk of disruption, has led to concerns of these supply chains being weaponised or leveraged as tools of economic coercion by a producing or processing country. Given the strategic importance of these critical metals to, how can the EU and the US secure their access to them?
This episode explores the dynamics of these critical resources trade flows, from both European and US perspectives.

The AIG Global Trade Series 2024 is a series of podcasts analysing the complex interplay of factors shaping the global trade system. The Global Trade Series is a collaboration between AIG and the following international organisations with leading expertise on global trade:
the Aspen Institute Germany; CEBRI - the Brazilian Center for International Relations; Chatham House (UK); the Clingendael Institute (The Netherlands); Elcano Royal Institute (Spain); ERIA – the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (Indonesia); IIEL - the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center (US); ISPI - the Italian Institute for International Political Studies; the Jacques Delors Institute (France); RIETI - the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan); and the St. Gallen Endowment for Prosperity through Trade (Switzerland).
https://www.aig.co.uk/landing-pages/aig-global-trade-series