The U.S. and E.U. signed a memorandum of understanding on a strategic partnership covering critical minerals supply chains, alongside an action plan intended to coordinate trade policy across allied countries, the European Commission said.
E.U. Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Šefčovič and Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the MoU in Washington, D.C. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Šefčovič then set out the Critical Minerals Action Plan, which the Commission said could pave the way toward a binding plurilateral agreement with additional partners.
The MoU covers cooperation across the full value chain — spanning exploration, extraction, processing, refining, recycling, and recovery — as well as investment promotion, geological mapping, and joint research and innovation, according to the Commission.
Trade measures under consideration in the action plan include border-adjusted price floors, standards-based markets, price gap subsidies, and offtake agreements. The two sides also intend to develop common standards for mining, processing, and recycling, as well as stockpiling strategies and mechanisms for rapid response to supply disruptions.
Neither document names China directly, though Reuters reported the agreement fits into a wider campaign by the Trump administration and allied governments to break their economies' reliance on Beijing-dominated supply chains. Reuters reported that Beijing has leveraged its dominance over mineral processing to exert geopolitical pressure, including through export curbs and price suppression that have eroded other nations' ability to develop alternative supply sources.
Greer said the U.S. and E.U. shared a commitment to "addressing the non-market policies and practices that have distorted critical minerals supply chains."
Both the MoU and the action plan follow commitments made at a Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting held in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 4, 2026, which also included Japan, the Commission said. The two sides said they plan to continue coordinating on the issue through the G7 and the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, known as FORGE.