The United States and Japan signed an agreement on Tuesday for “securing” supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, the White House said, as President Donald Trump visited Tokyo. The deal comes as the United States tries to boost access to critical minerals with China tightening controls on rare earths.

The objective of the deal is “to assist both countries in achieving resilience and security of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains”, the statement said. It added the United States and Japan would “jointly identify projects of interest to address gaps in supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths, including derivative products such as permanent magnets, batteries, catalysts, and optical materials”. (AFP)