WASHINGTON –
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven major industrial nations agreed at a meeting in Washington on Monday to take measures quickly to enhance supply chains for rare earth minerals.
Hosted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the meeting among the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union came at a time when China is tightening controls on rare earth exports to Japan and there are fears the impact of the Chinese measure may spread across the world.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama attended the meeting from Japan. Officials from resource-producing countries, such as Australia, also took part. Katayama held a bilateral meeting with Bessent.
Katayama told the G7 meeting that Tokyo has strongly protested to China and has urged the country to lift its rare-earth export restrictions.
Speaking with reporters after the meeting, she said that the Japanese side had obtained understanding from other participants over efforts to “speedily lower dependence on China for rare earth supplies.”
“I was pleased to hear a strong, shared desire to quickly address key vulnerabilities in critical minerals supply chains,” Bessent posted on X, formerly Twitter, playing up the outcome of the G7 meeting.
The Chinese government has been raising pressure on Japan since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made remarks last November on a possible contingency over Taiwan. Beijing banned dual-use goods exports to Japan earlier this month.
The G7 members and other countries that rely on China for rare-earth supplies aim to strengthen their unity against Beijing’s trade weaponization.
At the Washington meeting, the G7 ministers and others also discussed setting floor prices for rare earths in response to oversupply from China.