EU Lags Behind US in Rare Earth Metals Race
The European Union is falling behind the United States and China in securing critical rare earth minerals, risking dependence on U.S. supplies, despite slower investment compared to the U.S. and China's dominance in global supply and processing.
Consensus
- The European Union is significantly behind the United States and China in the race for critical rare earth minerals.
- The EU is investing less than the United States in projects related to rare earth mineral extraction and processing.
- The United States has invested around $40 billion since 2022 in rare earth mineral projects.
- The EU has allocated about $6 billion over the past 18 months for similar projects.
- China controls approximately 70% of global rare earth mineral supplies and up to 90% of their processing.
- Rare earth minerals are critical for defense and green technology sectors.
- There is a risk that the EU could become dependent on U.S. supplies of rare earth minerals.
- The G7 countries agreed to reduce their dependence on China for critical minerals to below 60% by 2030.
- A new platform with expanded role for the International Energy Agency is planned to support this effort.
- Over 195 projects with €64 billion in investments were announced starting in early 2026.
Points of divergence
- The EU risks becoming fully dependent on American supplies of rare earth minerals. — riamo
- The United States depends on imports for more than 90% of 25 critical minerals. — riamo
- The EU could face a situation where the U.S. becomes its 'second China' in terms of rare earth mineral dependence. — vesti
Coverage (3 sources)
- EU lags behind US in race for rare earth metals and will become dependent on them — РИАМО
- EU falls significantly behind US in race for rare earth metals, writes FT. — РИА Новости (Telegram)
- European Union loses to the US in the race for rare earth metals — Вести
Key entities
- USA
- European Union
- EU
- China
- Financial Times
- States
- FT
- Europe
- Moscow
- RIA Novosti
- United States
- Brussels
- European Union
- PhotoBank Lori
- Ilya Starkov
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- Photo - © Iva Noel / Fotobank Loris. In August 2026