The Trump administration's push to boost critical minerals production by regulating prices is facing skeptical G7 allies and a divided mining industry, with negotiations for a Western trading bloc stumbling over concerns about the plan's cost and governance, according to diplomatic sources and a Reuters analysis of corporate policy recommendations.
First proposed by U.S. Vice President JD Vance in February, the trading bloc aims to help the West wean itself off China, which became the world's largest minerals producer by operating at a loss and dampening prices for the building blocks of semiconductors, computer servers, military equipment and myriad other products.