Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is urging allies to come together and address concerns over China‘s global-markets/” title=”China's Antimony Export Restrictions Impact Global Markets”>dominance
in the global critical minerals supply chain. She warns that the Chinese regime is intentionally trying to eliminate emerging miners and processors in this sector. Speaking about Canada’s challenges in developing critical minerals, Freeland emphasizes the need for collective support from G7 nations to protect their miners and processors.Jonathan Price, president of Teck Resources, highlights that China currently controls up to 90 percent of global processing capacity for critical minerals such as copper and cobalt. He draws a parallel between this situation and the oil embargo by OPEC in the 1970s, which caused significant economic problems worldwide. Price states that China’s concentration of control over critical minerals poses a material risk to both economic health and national security.
Price provides an example of China’s restriction on gallium and germanium exports last year. These two elements are crucial for manufacturing semiconductors, solar panels, fiber optics, and infrared optics. With China producing around 98 percent of gallium and approximately 60 percent of germanium globally, its dominance has disrupted Western supply chains.
Price expresses concerns about lengthy permitting processes that deter new mining investments in Canada and the United States. He notes that it takes an average of 15 years to build a single copper mine under these circumstances.
In contrast to Price’s call for government support, Cohen suggests that diversification within the private sector is key to breaking China’s control over mining, processing, and refining. Drawing on the example of reducing reliance on OPEC for oil production through private sector investment outside OPEC countries.
Ultimately, addressing China’s dominance in the critical minerals supply chain requires collaboration among allied nations while also encouraging private sector investment as a means of diversification away from Chinese control.