US President Donald Trump yesterday signed an agreement related to rare earth minerals with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
In addition, Trump also confirmed that Washington's key ally will receive nuclear-powered submarines.
The two leaders met at the White House with a focus on two main areas, namely defense and critical minerals, as Washington and Canberra seek to strengthen cooperation in curbing China's increasingly aggressive influence.
Albanese said the rare earth deal would attract $8.5 billion (RM35.88 billion) in investment in critical minerals projects in Australia and elevate bilateral relations to a higher level.
He also stressed that Australia's wealth of critical mineral resources has the potential to help reduce China's dominance in the global supply of rare earths, which are essential for the production of technology products.
Australia also expressed its intention to form a strategic reserve of critical minerals to supply key partners such as Washington, as a step to reduce dependence on Beijing's dominance.
The country has reserves of lithium, cobalt, manganese and rare earth metals used in a range of technologies including semiconductors, defence equipment, electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The Australian government will also support US aluminium producer Alcoa's plans to build a gallium plant at its aluminium refinery in Western Australia, potentially contributing up to 10% of global gallium supply.
The two countries will invest more than $1 billion (RM4.22 billion) each over the next six months, with the White House estimating the total investment could reach $3 billion (RM12.66 billion).
