The Trump administration has prioritized achieving greater U.S. access to critical minerals. Trump has boosted domestic mining, concluded a range of critical minerals-related deals, with countries like Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and is proposing a multi-country critical minerals agreement. And through a newly created a Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, the U.S. government has acquired stakes in rare earth mining firms.

What are the short-term objectives of the administration and the long-term consequences of these policies? Is greater mineral self-sufficiency feasible or advisable? How has this focus on minerals shaped U.S. foreign policy, and trade issues more specifically?

Join two experts for a conversation on the future of U.S. mineral policy. Raquel Dominguez is Earthworks' Circular Economy Policy Advocate, working to reduce the need for new extraction while increasing equitable living standards everywhere. Melinda St. Louis is the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. For decades, she has been fighting for progressive alternatives to corporate globalization that benefit people and the planet.