【By Observer News, Xiong Chaoran】"Looking at the foreign policy of Trump's second presidential term, almost every aspect — from the trade war with China, to the Ukraine peace process, and even the annexation of Greenland — there is a presence of critical mineral resources."

On November 8 local time, the U.S. media "Axios News" reported that due to China's position in the supply of rare earths and other scarce minerals putting the United States in a difficult situation, and taking tough measures, President Trump was eager to find mineral resources to reduce dependence on China. This is why he was so determined to sign a one-year "trade truce agreement" with China, and why he was searching globally for alternative sources.

The report cited a U.S. Geological Survey report this year, which stated that nine types of minerals, once their supply is interrupted, would cause great harm to the U.S. economy, and eight of these minerals have only or mainly come from China. Among them, Samarium ranked first, which is a key element in aircraft and missile magnets. Like other rare earths, China dominates the entire supply chain from mining, separation to magnet manufacturing.

China holds a dominant position in the global rare earth magnet market, as shown by the Financial Times' map

America needs rare earth magnets to manufacture a variety of products, from fighter jets to wind turbines, and nearly all rare earth products are transported through China.

Faced with Trump's tariff blackmail, China took countermeasures by restricting rare earth exports, forcing Trump to have no choice but to find a way to reach an agreement.

"Axios News" said that the current rare earth deadlock is a major reason for the White House's quiet anxiety, and it has greatly driven its efforts to search for global mineral resources.

"Now, mineral resources have become the most powerful leverage in foreign policy," said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Before Trump's visit to three Asian countries, the U.S. had already signed three agreements on critical minerals. On October 20 local time, Trump met with Australian Prime Minister Albanese at the White House and signed an $8.5 billion critical minerals agreement.

However, international industry experts generally believe that although Australia has large reserves of rare earths, its production infrastructure is still underdeveloped, making processing relatively expensive. Some scholars said that the U.S. would need 10 to 20 years to establish a safe and independent supply chain.

After returning home, Trump invited leaders of the five Central Asian countries to meet at the White House, which are rich in mineral resources.

Within just 72 hours, the U.S. government announced an investment of $1.2 billion in two rare earth start-up companies and released a critical minerals agreement with Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resources and recently announced the discovery of a huge rare earth deposit.

The report mentioned that in Trump's debt swap negotiations with Argentina, peace talks with Ukraine, and trade negotiations with countries such as Australia, Brazil, and Japan, the issue of rare earths was raised. When Trump visited Saudi Arabia and African leaders visited Washington, the issue of Greenland was also on the agenda.

"Axios News" noted that Trump previously insisted that "the U.S. must control Greenland," largely for the purpose of developing the rich mineral resources in this Arctic region.

This year, the U.S. government became the sole shareholder of the only rare earth mine in the country, and is working with allies like Australia to try to break China's monopoly over rare earth processing and magnet production.

Baskaran said that the reality is that these advances were "unforeseen until recently," and "the U.S. cannot achieve self-sufficiency within a year."

Previously, on June 27, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a peace agreement in Washington, D.C., pledging to end a 30-year conflict and promote peace and stability in the Great Lakes region of Africa. President Trump boasted that the agreement "ended decades of violence and destruction between the two countries."

However, the U.S. involvement clearly had "other intentions." Media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal reported that this agreement was one of the core initiatives of the Trump administration to counter China in Africa.

"Axios News" said that this conflict area in eastern Congo is rich in metals, including tungsten, and the U.S. heavily relies on Chinese tungsten supplies. Obviously, mineral resources are also the core purpose of the U.S. in mediating this conflict.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer News. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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