WEMO 2025 (complet) - Flipbook - Page 49
Greenland’s 1.5 million tonnes of rare earth element
reserves, via the proposed “Make Greenland Great
Again Act,” is awaiting approval by the U.S. Congress.
The next step would be agreement with Denmark.
If 昀椀nalized, this policy365 should be bene昀椀cial to
US security of supply in the long term. In the
short term, due to slow mining development,
these agreements will not change China’s critical
minerals supply dominance (80% of U.S. REEs)
However, on June 27, 2025366, a U.S.-China agreement
alleviated concerns over potential Chinese rare earth
embargoes, with China committing to supply rare earth
elements to the U.S. in exchange for the removal of U.S.
trade countermeasures.
√ Securing critical minerals resources is prompting the US to
enter international deals The US administration’s policy
prioritizes securing critical minerals and Rare Earth
Elements to counter China’s dominance. On March
20, 2025, it used emergency powers to fast-track U.S.
mining363. In addition, it seeks to secure resources
outside the US. The U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, signed
April 30, 2025364, provides access to Ukraine’s lithium,
graphite (20% of global reserves), and uranium in
exchange for reconstruction funding, The US push for
√ Impact on global emissions: The Trump administration’s
policy could result in signi昀椀cantly increasing US
emissions compared to Biden’s climate plans.
However, this increase is complex to evaluate as many
factors are in play. On the one hand, the decrease of
clean energy investments and the increase of fossil
fuel usage will increase emissions. But on the other
hand, cheap gas could replace coal in power plants, and
the economic impact of tari昀昀s could slow down the
US economy, which would have the e昀昀ect of reducing
emissions.367
48
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/07/29/
eu-and-us-spin-con昀氀icting-versions-of-trade-deal
363
https://www.newsweek.com/explained-donald-trump-rare-earth-minerals-quest-2037622
364
https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-know-about-signed-us-ukraine-minerals-deal
365
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/26/
trump-rare-earth-critical-mineral-resource-ukraine-greenland-canada/
366
https://www.china-brie昀椀ng.com/news/us-china-tari昀昀-rates-2025/
367
https://www.carbonbrief.org/
analysis-trump-election-win-could-add-4bn-tonnes-to-us-emissions-by-2030/
362
√ U.S. tari昀昀s deal on European goods include a requirement
to purchase American energy: In July 2025, the EU and US
struck a deal that will see tari昀昀s of 15% on most of the
bloc’s exports to the US.362 In the other direction, US
exports tari昀昀s to the EU, currently at 10%, will be free.
In addition, the EU will "double down" on its purchases
of American energy, buying $750bn worth of energy
during the next three years. Averaging out to $250 bn
each year, this represents a substantial increase over
current purchases of US energy, which range from $92
to $100 bn. However, it's important to remember that
the European Commission is not buying any of these
commodities and neither is the US government selling
them.
WEMO 2025
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