U.S. proposes critical minerals "trade zone" with allies to counter China

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called on allies and like-minded countries to create together a "preferential trade zone" for critical minerals to better weather future supply chain disruptions, amid China's near monopoly on rare earth elements used in high-tech manufacturing.

The U.S. proposal was made at a ministerial meeting on those key resources in Washington involving Germany, India, Japan and dozens of other countries from all regions, with Vance delivering an implicit warning against doing nothing in the face of China's global dominance in the strategic sector.