What good is a tank if you can't get the metals to build it?
This week's meeting between U.S., Ukrainian, and European leaders showed potential progress towards security cooperation. And while the new U.S.-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund agreement marks an important step toward increasing the resilience of both U.S. and European supply chains, there is more work to be done. Building on this momentum, the United States and the European Union should seek closer critical minerals supply chain cooperation.
There are several opportunities for the two economies to work together by focusing on defense and security—rather than the economic and clean energy framing of the past. Tighter cooperation could strengthen the EU defense-industrial base, enhance military readiness, and strengthen NATO's deterrence posture while enabling the United States to secure critical minerals, preserve manufacturing capacity, and redirect precious resources to the Indo-Pacific. Supply chain cooperation would also help both sides reduce dependence on China, which dominates the critical minerals market by creating oversupply and using export restrictions. Indeed, the China challenge requires the United States and Europe to work together.…
The remainder of this commentary is available at warontherocks.com.
