Friendshoring and Mineral Partnerships
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Friendshoring means shifting critical mineral supply chains to allied and partner countries so that no single supplier can use its position as leverage. In 2025 and 2026 it moved from slogan to formal frameworks: the United States and Australia signed a supply framework on 20 October 2025, the State Department launched the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE) on 4 February 2026 to succeed the Minerals Security Partnership, and the G7 widened its production alliance at the Évian summit in June 2026.
20 Oct 2025
US-Australia critical minerals framework signed at the White House
Source: Minerals Council of Australia
$8.5bn
pipeline of priority US and Australian critical mineral projects, with US$1 billion of investment from both nations over six months
Source: Minerals Council of Australia
4 Feb 2026
FORGE launched at the first US Critical Minerals Ministerial, replacing the Minerals Security Partnership
$19.2bn
projects across 69 partnerships that Canada says the G7 production alliance is catalysing
Which frameworks make up the allied approach?
The allied approach combines bilateral frameworks, plurilateral forums and trade tools. The table sets out the main ones with the latest dated facts; most are policy commitments, not funded programs, so the figures describe intent unless the source says otherwise.
| Framework | Date | What it commits to | Open questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| US-Australia framework | 20 October 2025 | A bilateral action plan to unlock a US$8.5 billion project pipeline, with US$1 billion of investment from both nations over six months and a joint commitment to fast-track approvals. Named projects include the Alcoa-Sojitz gallium recovery project in Western Australia (around 10% of world gallium supply) and the Arafura Nolans rare earths project (about 5% of global rare earths). | The Minerals Council statement does not mention a price floor. |
| FORGE (successor to the Minerals Security Partnership) | 4 February 2026 | A plurilateral forum for policy alignment and project coordination. The ministerial proposed a preferential trade zone with price floors and presented Project Vault as a stockpile; CSIS says design, enforcement and timelines remain to be determined. | CSIS counts 55 foreign delegations; a full membership list was not found. |
| US Section 232 proclamation on processed critical minerals | 15 January 2026 | The President imposed no tariffs but directed Commerce and the US Trade Representative to negotiate agreements that consider price floors, with a status report due within 180 days. | The outcome of the report due in July 2026 was not found. |
| G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan and standards-based markets roadmap | June and 31 October 2025 | Leaders agreed to diversify production, build interoperable traceability and assess premiums for responsibly produced metals. | The roadmap is non-binding. |
| G7 Critical Minerals Resilience and Production Alliance | 17 June 2026 | Canada-led alliance broadened at Évian, with 13 new Canadian partnerships worth more than $5 billion of capital spending. | Figures are Canadian government claims. |
| EU RESourceEU | December 2025 | European Critical Raw Materials Centre, joint purchasing, stockpiling pilot and about 3 billion euros of funding. | Launch status of each element is not confirmed. |
Sources: Minerals Council of Australia, CSIS, Covington, Natural Resources Canada, Government of Canada, electrive.
What changed when FORGE replaced the Minerals Security Partnership?
FORGE replaced the Minerals Security Partnership, which the United States launched in 2022, and shifted the emphasis from a funding vehicle to policy alignment and cross-border project coordination, according to the Atlantic Council. The Republic of Korea was reported to chair it until June 2026, and the Atlantic Council noted that its operational details and membership were still being clarified. CSIS reports that 13 new bilateral critical minerals frameworks and memoranda were signed around the February 2026 ministerial.
What are allied governments using to make the shift?
- Price floors and offtake. The MP Materials deal of July 2025 set a ten-year $110 per kilogram floor for neodymium-praseodymium products. See offtake agreements.
- Equity and loans. US government stakes in rare earth and lithium developers put public money alongside private capital.
- Stockpiles. The US National Defense Stockpile, Project Vault and the EU's planned pilot are described on the stockpiles page.
- Procurement rules. From 1 January 2027 US defense contractors may not supply magnets, tungsten and tantalum with any mining, refining or separation step in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea under 10 U.S.C. 4872.
- Standards. The G7 roadmap of 31 October 2025 commits members to traceability and to assess premiums for sustainably produced metals.
What are the limits of friendshoring?
Friendshoring is limited by the time it takes to build processing capacity. The International Energy Agency's 2026 outlook says planned rare earth refining capacity would reach only about two-thirds of expected mine output in 2035 and planned magnet production about one-third, and that the top rare earth refiner's share would fall only to about 70% by 2035. Producer-country policy also cuts across it: Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe all use export rules to keep processing at home, as the resource nationalism page explains. The US tax-credit route has narrowed too: the IRS says the clean vehicle credit under section 30D is not allowed for vehicles acquired after 30 September 2025.
Frequently asked questions
What is friendshoring in critical minerals?
Friendshoring in critical minerals is the policy of moving mining, processing and manufacturing to allied or partner countries to reduce dependence on one supplier. Recent examples are the US-Australia framework of October 2025 and the G7 production alliance.
What is FORGE?
FORGE is the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, launched by the US State Department on 4 February 2026 at its first Critical Minerals Ministerial. It succeeds the Minerals Security Partnership and focuses on policy alignment and coordinating projects across borders.
Did the US impose tariffs on processed critical minerals?
The US did not impose tariffs on processed critical minerals in its January 2026 Section 232 proclamation. The President directed negotiations that consider price floors and left open other remedies, with a status report due within 180 days, and the outcome of that report was not found for this page.
What is the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance?
The G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance is a Canada-led initiative announced in 2025 that was broadened into the Critical Minerals Resilience and Production Alliance at the Évian summit in June 2026. Canada says it is catalysing US$19.2 billion in projects across 69 partnerships.
Sources
Read on October 12, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- Minerals Council of Australia: US-Australia framework
- CSIS: Critical Minerals Ministerial introduces new international cooperation strategy
- Atlantic Council: US critical minerals policy goes collaborative with FORGE
- Covington: Section 232 results on processed critical minerals (January 2026)
- Natural Resources Canada: Roadmap to promote standards-based markets (31 October 2025)
- Prime Minister of Canada: G7 Leaders' Summit backgrounder (17 June 2026)
- IRS: FAQs on changes to sections 25E, 30D and 45W (OBBBA)
- 10 U.S.C. 4872: Acquisition of sensitive materials from non-allied foreign nations
- Global Mining Review: report on the IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026
