The Trump administration has purchased a stake in two Canadian critical mineral companies, a move experts say is certainly unusual, if not extraordinary, and which raise questions about whether Ottawa should block them in the interest of national security.

It's "p ossibly unprecedented for the U.S. government itself to be buying an interest in a Canadian company,” said Lawrence Herman, an international lawyer and a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute.

Canada should be concerned, he said, "about any foreign state purchasing interest in a Canadian company, especially in the sensitive critical minerals sector.” Those minerals include lithium, copper, nickel and others that are essential for modern technology.

The White House announced last week it was spending $35.6 million US for

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