By Melanie Burton and Peter Hobson

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australia is seeing more interest in its strategic critical minerals reserve from allies including the European Union since it signed a deal with the United States last month, Australia’s trade minister said on Wednesday.

Canberra signed an agreement with Washington in October aimed at countering China’s dominance in critical minerals needed for industries spanning artificial intelligence to defence systems. It included an $8.5 billion project pipeline and leverages Australia’s proposed strategic reserve, which will supply metals like rare earths and lithium that are vulnerable to disruption.

“Having seen what we’ve done with the Americans, I think there’s increased interest from the Europeans, from the Japanese, from the South Kor

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