Anchor: The United States has said it will establish a trade bloc to diversify supply chains for critical minerals essential to defense and advanced industries. To kick off the initiative, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and other nations took part in a discussion held in Washington, aimed at defending against China’s dominance over key elements and materials essential for modern technology, economic stability and national security.
Rosyn Park has more.

Report: Speaking at the Critical Minerals Ministerial at the State Department on Wednesday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in a meeting of 56 countries that the trade war over the past year had exposed how dependent most states are on rare earth minerals controlled by China.

Vance said the Donald Trump administration wants a trading bloc among allies and partners, such as South Korea, Australia, India and Japan, whom he described as being on the "same team." 

[Sound bite: U.S. Vice President JD Vance]
“Our goal here and the reason why we're doing this, this conference, is to align trade policy, development, finance and diplomatic engagement towards a shared strategic objective. And that objective is very simple. Diversify – diversifying global supply and the critical minerals market while strengthening the partner countries who help all of us in this shared effort."

Vance said participating members would establish reference prices for critical minerals at real world fair market value, which will operate as a floor, maintained through adjustable tariffs, “to uphold pricing integrity."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to the proposed trade bloc as the “Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement,” or the “FORGE Initiative” and said many partner countries have already signed on.

In particular, Rubio thanked South Korea, noting that it had played a leading role in the Minerals Security Partnership, which he said had helped fill the gap ahead of the launch of the new trade bloc.

Seoul’s foreign ministry said the country will take on the chairmanship of the initiative through June. 

The Trump administration has been aggressively diversifying its critical mineral supply chain to mitigate reliance on China after Beijing imposed strict export controls on rare earth elements in 2025 as a retaliatory measure against U.S. tariffs and restrictions on technology.
Rosyn Park, KBS World Radio News.