President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed an $8.5-billion critical minerals deal to reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains for rare earths.

Australia holds the world’s fourth-largest deposits of rare earths.

President Trump signed an agreement with visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to boost access to critical minerals and rare earths as the U.S. seeks to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.

“We are discussing critical minerals and rare earths and we’re going to be signing an agreement that’s been negotiated over a period of four or five months,” Trump said Monday at the White House as the two leaders met. “In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them.”

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