The Future of U.S.-Australia Critical Minerals Cooperation

The U.S.–Australia economic and security partnership ranks among the most enduring and strategic alliances in the Indo-Pacific. Today, this alliance is entering a new chapter with expanded opportunities to collaborate on securing critical mineral supply chains. Australia—one of the world’s most resource-rich nations—has outlined an ambitious agenda to create diverse, resilient and sustainable global critical minerals supply chains—most recently announcing the creation of a national critical minerals reserve and the use of government-led offtake agreements. Closer U.S.–Australia alignment is both timely and necessary, particularly in the context of broader strategic frameworks such as the Quad and AUKUS.

To explore the implications of this cooperation, the Hon. Dr. Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and current Australian Ambassador to the United States, will join Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at CSIS, for a discussion on why U.S.–Australia critical minerals collaboration is essential to securing a diverse and reliable supply of critical minerals essential to defense and advanced manufacturing industries. 

This event is made possible by general funding to the CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program.