US, Australia sign billion-dollar deals on critical minerals, defence cooperation

Washington DC [US], October 21 : The United States and Australia on Monday (local time) sealed landmark agreements worth billions, aimed at strengthening cooperation on critical minerals and defence collaboration, in a major boost to strategic and economic ties between the two nations, with both nations committing over USD 8.5 billion in joint investments over the next six months.
The landmark deals were signed during a high-level meeting between US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The agreements are the result of months of negotiations and are expected to significantly enhance supply-chain security, energy independence, and military cooperation between the two allies.
"We're going to be here to talk about lots of different things... 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," said Trump during the meeting.
A factsheet released by the White House described the Critical Minerals Framework as a "model for supply-chain cooperation globally".
According to the factsheet, the two governments plan to jointly invest more than USD three billion into critical mineral projects, with recoverable resources valued at USD 53 billion.
The US Export-Import Bank has issued seven Letters of Interest amounting to USD 2.2 billion in financing, potentially unlocking up to USD 5 billion in total investments in critical mineral and supply-chain security projects.
It also stated that the US Department of War will fund the construction of a 100 metric tonne-per-year advanced gallium refinery in Western Australia, further pushing for self-reliance in critical mineral processing.
Albanese underscored the scale of the collaboration, stating, "USD 8.5 billion in the pipeline... There will be USD 1 billion contributed from Australia and the United States over the next six months with projects that are immediately available."
On the defence front, Australia has agreed to purchase USD 1.2 billion worth of Anduril unmanned underwater vehicles and will begin receiving the first tranche of Apache helicopters under a separate USD 2.6 billion deal.
In addition, Australia has already contributed USD 1 billion to help expand the US submarine industrial base, with another USD 1 billion expected by the end of the year.
According to the factsheet, these efforts are part of strengthening the trilateral AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Australia is also investing heavily in its air and missile defence capabilities, including USD 2 billion in contracts with US companies for its Joint Air Battle Management System.
The US-Australia alliance is additionally working to reinforce munitions supply-chain resilience under Australia's Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) initiative.
The new agreements are also poised to support over 200 manufacturing suppliers across US states, including Texas, Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama, as stated in the factsheet.