Why critical minerals are a bargaining chip in the Canada-U.S. trade war

Aya Dufour · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 6

Over history, golden and metallic coins person been large commercialized darlings, and can still spur capitalist frenzy depending connected however they're faring successful markets. But as industries and economies deepen their dependence connected captious minerals, these metals look to beryllium becoming arsenic invaluable arsenic immoderate commodity oregon currency.

Last week, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed to motion a minerals woody with the U.S. in hopes of securing longer-term enactment during the warfare against Russia. But the Oval Office gathering with President Donald Trump was chopped abbreviated and immoderate woody enactment connected clasp arsenic the two, on with the U.S. vice-president, got wrapped up in a fiery exchange. The 2 presidents look to inactive beryllium consenting to work towards a deal.

Ukraine isn't known for its captious minerals, but it does person reserves of copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel, and uncommon world elements specified as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium. These are indispensable components of galore of today's rapidly increasing vigor technologies.

While mining companies whitethorn beryllium hesitant to acceptable up store successful a state that has been embroiled successful a war, the Ukraine-U.S. talks amusement captious minerals tin beryllium utilized arsenic a negotiating instrumentality arsenic countries scramble to unafraid proviso chains amid an uncertain economical climate.

Critical minerals are helping thrust modern economies due to the fact that they're essential successful the accumulation of smartphones, computers, electrical vehicles, renewable vigor systems, batteries and outer systems. 

Securing entree to captious minerals

Under the erstwhile U.S. medication of Joe Biden, hundreds of millions of dollars were connected connection for Canadian firms mining oregon processing captious minerals. 

The U.S. Department of Defence funded respective projects northbound of the border with nary strings attached successful a bid to boost the North American proviso and trim dependence connected China.

The Trump administration, however, seems to beryllium favouring a antithetic attack to unafraid the U.S. proviso chain.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau precocious told concern leaders astatine the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit successful Toronto that Trump's menace to annex Canada "is a existent thing" motivated by his tendency to pat into the country's captious minerals.

However, annexation would beryllium an impractical mode for the U.S. to entree Canada's captious minerals, according to Andrew Grant, subordinate prof successful governmental studies astatine Queen's University successful Kingston, Ont. 

"Logistically, it would beryllium precise hard to implement."

Grant said there's a agelong past of Canada-U.S. co-operation, betwixt companies and the antithetic levels of government. 

The U.S. crossing the borderline uninvited would disrupt this collaboration and cognition exchange, yet making it harder to extract the minerals from the crushed for each involved. 

Grant suggested that if Canada were to leverage captious minerals arsenic a bargaining instrumentality successful the commercialized war, it could secure immoderate advantages.

"I deliberation it is thing that if done successful the due way, it could beryllium thing that would possibly effect successful concessions coming backmost Canada's way," helium said. "It would possibly beryllium adjacent much invaluable than what would beryllium sent successful presumption of entree to definite captious mineral deposits."

Could Canada chopped disconnected entree to captious minerals? 

Ontario and B.C. person threatened to slap export bans connected captious minerals if the U.S. maintains its 25 per cent tariffs, launched Tuesday, connected Canadian goods. 

The national authorities has yet to marque that threat, but it has intervened successful the mining manufacture earlier successful the sanction of geopolitics. 

It ordered 3 Chinese assets companies to merchantability their involvement successful Canadian captious mineral firms successful 2022. 

One of these companies was Power Metals, a inferior miner advancing a cesium task adjacent Cochrane successful bluish Ontario. 

Australians were speedy to bargain up the interests near down by Chinese interests and Power Metals is present looking to participate into accumulation adjacent summer. 

Cesium is utilized successful atomic clocks, electronics, and lipid and state drilling, to sanction a few. China presently dominates the full proviso concatenation for this mineral, hence the U.S. involvement successful seeing mines unfastened up successful North America. 

The institution inactive needs partners to unfastened its mine and was successful talks with the U.S. Department of Defence for backing opportunities past year. 

"The alteration of authorities successful the U.S. sparked the closure of beauteous overmuch each that funding," said Haydn Daxter, main enforcement serviceman of Power Metals. 

"It's reopened … but it won't beryllium a precocious precedence for america until the particulate settles southbound of the border." 

Daxter said his institution isn't acrophobic the existent commercialized warfare could dilatory its task down. 

Tariffs themselves are not a benefit, but the accrued involvement successful captious minerals is, helium said.

"The U.S. tin enforce tariffs, but they'll get to a constituent wherever they're not buying from China and they can't get proviso elsewhere, and they've got proviso successful Canada.

"I deliberation it's a spot of musculus flexing to align things amended for the U.S., but it won't beryllium sustainable."

'Where other are they going to get it?'

Ian London, enforcement manager of the non-profit Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance (C2M2A), besides said the U.S. is utilizing threats arsenic a negotiating tactic. 

"You don't person to transverse the borderline oregon marque these threats — collaboration is key."

London said Canada has a batch of leverage because the U.S. doesn't person galore options if it's looking for supplies outside China. "Where other are they going to get it?

"Mining is not the large cost — it's the proscription and movement. Are they going to bargain earthy materials successful Australia and get boatloads into the Panama Canal?" London asked. "It's a precise analyzable proviso chain. And portion we're talking and continuing successful a commercialized war, China is implementing different 5 twelvemonth plan."

London said Canada should enactment its resources into processing and manufacturing, and not excavation captious minerals. 

"As agelong arsenic it remains successful the ground, it's an vantage … We shouldn't beryllium mining it and selling it to others," helium said.

"We should excavation it, refine it and nutrient the manufactured products. That is what's successful Canada's interests."