Can Brazil and the U.S. Reach a Deal on Rare Earths?
As Washington seeks to loosen China’s grip on high-tech and defense supply chains, Brasília holds a strategic play.
SÃO PAULO—Rare earths are universally recognized as key to the global energy transition. But they also appear to have accomplished something almost as momentous: bringing Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva together. Indeed, when the presidents of the United States and Brazil abruptly put their months-long conflict aside and began negotiating starting this September, a shared interest in rare earths was seen as one of the main reasons. Brazil has the world’s second-largest proven reserves of rare earths behind China, but has struggled to develop them due to a...
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