Trump's Treasury Secretary calls meeting over China-enforced mineral supply crunch

Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called a full-scale meeting with his global peers on Monday to get ahead of the worsening mineral supply crunch.

With China refining up to 87% of the world’s rare earths and silver prices breaking records, Scott gathered the finance ministers of 11 countries, the EU commissioner, and U.S. trade officials in the same room.

The goal, Scott said, was to start fixing the supply chains before China tightens its grip further.

The attendees included Jim Chalmers from Australia, François-Philippe Champagne from Canada, Valdis Dombrovskis from the EU, Roland Lescure from France, Lars Klingbeil from Germany, Ashwini Vaishnaw from India, Giancarlo Giorgetti from Italy, Satsuki Katayama from Japan, Edgar Amador Zamora from Mexico, Yun-Cheol Koo from South Korea, and Rachel Reeves from the UK.

Jamieson Greer, John Jovanovic, and Jay Horine also joined in. These countries and blocs together represent 60% of global demand for the minerals in question. But China still dominates the supply chain.

Ministers discuss plans to escape China’s control

Scott opened the talks by making the issue clear. “Supply chains are too concentrated. They’re weak. They’re easy to disrupt. We need to fix that now.”

The U.S. presented its current investments and upcoming plans to build stronger supply lines, focusing on rare earths, cobalt, lithium, graphite, and silver.

Scott told his peers that the goal wasn’t decoupling from China completely, but derisking where it matters.

Lars Klingbeil warned Europe can’t afford to sit on its hands. “What is very important to me is that we in Europe do not sit back. Neither complaining nor self-pity helps us, we have to become active.” He called for faster action and new funding at the EU level, pointing to a German raw materials fund as a possible model. He also confirmed that France will make rare earths a top issue during its G7 presidency.

The urgency was real. Just last week, China banned exports of dual-use minerals meant for Japan’s military. That hit home for countries that depend on these materials for energy, weapons, and chipmaking. Scott said, “We can’t be caught off guard again. Not with minerals this critical.”

The ministers also listened to updates from Jamieson Greer, John Jovanovic, and Jay Horine, who covered financial tools that could help fund alternative sources and speed up private sector involvement.

Silver trading sees record highs as CME shifts margin rules

Outside the meeting, the markets were already reacting. CME Group changed how it calculates margin requirements for silver, gold, platinum, and palladium. The new rule ties margins to a percentage of notional value, not a fixed dollar amount. It goes live Tuesday night.

The change comes after a 20% surge in silver this year and record highs in both silver and gold.

As Cryptopolitan kept reporting, the CME has adjusted margin levels multiple times in the past year as volatility surged. This time, the exchange said the latest change came after “a normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage.”

Spot silver rallied by another 1%, while gold held steady at $4,596.03 an ounce. Platinum dropped 0.6%, and palladium fell 0.9%. The Dollar Spot Index ticked up 0.1%.

The CME reminded traders that the daily margin system exists to cover potential losses. “Margins help to ensure that clearing members can meet their obligations to their customers and to CME Clearing,” it said. This signals more cash will be needed to hold positions as prices swing.

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