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原文標題：
US and Australia sign critical-minerals agreement as a way to counter China
原文連結：https://tinyurl.com/2rp2utn8
發布時間：Updated 4:54 AM GMT+8, October 21, 2025
記者署名：By SEUNG MIN KIM and AAMER MADHANI
原文內容：

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese signed a critical-minerals deal at the White House on Monday
as the U.S. eyes the continent’s rich rare-earth resources when China is
imposing tougher rules on exporting its own critical minerals abroad.


The two leaders described the agreement as an $8.5 billion deal between the
allies. Trump said it had been negotiated over several months.
兩位領導人表示，這是一項總額達85億美元的盟國合作協議。川普指出，該協議已談判數
月之久。

“In about a year from now we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earth
 that you won’t know what to do with them,” said Trump, a Republican,
boasting about the deal. “They’ll be worth $2.”
共和黨籍的川普誇耀道：「大約一年後，我們將擁有多到不知道該怎麼處理的關鍵礦物與
稀土。它們的價格可能只值兩美元而已。」

Albanese added that the agreement takes the U.S.-Australia relationship “to
the next level.”
阿爾巴尼斯補充說，這項協議將美澳關係「提升到新的層次」。

Earlier this month, Beijing announced that it will require foreign companies
to get approval from the Chinese government to export magnets containing even
trace amounts of rare-earth materials that originated from China or were
produced with Chinese technology. The Trump administration says this gives
China broad power over the global economy by controlling the tech supply chain
.


“Australia is really, really going to be helpful in the effort to take the
global economy and make it less risky, less exposed to the kind of rare earth
extortion that we’re seeing from the Chinese,” Kevin Hassett, the director
of the White House’s National Economic Council, told reporters Monday morning
 ahead of Trump’s meeting with Albanese.
白宮國家經濟委員會主任凱文· 哈塞特在川普與阿爾巴尼斯會面前對記者說：「澳洲將在
降低全球經濟風險、減少受到中國式稀土勒索方面，發揮非常、非常關鍵的作用。」

Hassett noted that Australia has one of the best mining economies in the world
, while praising its refiners and its abundance of rare earth resources. Among
 the Australian officials accompanying Albanese are ministers overseeing
resources and industry and science, and Australia has dozens of critical
minerals sought by the U.S. because they are needed in everything from fighter
 jets and electric vehicles to laptops and phones.


The agreement could have an immediate impact on rare earth supplies in the
United States if American companies can secure some of what Australian mines
are already producing, although it will take years — if not decades — to
develop enough of a supply of rare earths outside of China to reduce their
dominance.
若美國企業能確保取得部分澳洲礦產現有產量，該協議可能立即影響美國的稀土供應。然
而，要在中國以外地區建立足夠產能以削弱中國主導地位，仍需數年，甚至數十年。

Pini Althaus, who founded USA Rare Earth back in 2019 and is now working to
develop new mines in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as CEO of Cove Capital, said it
 will be crucial that the contracts to buy materials from Australian mines
include price floors, similar to what the U.S. government promised MP
Materials this summer, to protect against China manipulating prices.


For decades, China has used the tactic of dumping excess critical minerals
onto the market to drive prices down to force mining companies in the rest of
the world out of business to eliminate any competition.
數十年來，中國一直利用將過剩礦物傾銷市場、壓低價格的策略，迫使他國礦業企業破產
，以消除競爭。

“Taking away that arrow of China’s to be able to manipulate pricing is a
crucial first step for Australia and the West to be able to develop critical
minerals projects to meet our demands,” said Althaus, who has spent nearly a
quarter-century in the mining business.
阿爾陶斯說：「拔除中國操縱價格的這支箭，是澳洲與西方能夠發展自身關鍵礦業以滿足
需求的第一步。」他在礦業已有近25年經驗。

The agreement underscores how the U.S. is using its global allies to counter
China, especially as it weaponizes its traditional dominance in rare earth
materials. Top Trump officials have used the tactics from Beijing as a
rallying cry for the U.S. and its allies to work together to try to minimize
China’s influence.

“China is a command-and-control economy, and we and our allies will neither
be commanded nor controlled,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week
 “They are a state economy and we are not going to let a group of
bureaucrats in Beijing try to manage the global supply chains.”
財政部長史考特· 貝森特上週說：「中國是指令式經濟體，而我們與盟友不會被命令或控
制。他們是國家控制的經濟，我們不會讓北京的一群官僚來操縱全球供應鏈。」

The level of investment outlined in the agreement shows how serious the two
nations are about addressing the problem.
協議所規劃的投資規模顯示兩國對解決此問題的決心之強。

“The U.S. and Australia will invest over $3 billion in joint critical
minerals projects within six months. That’s a somewhat unprecedented speed of
 capital injection,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical
Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington.


But Althaus cautioned that Australia can’t supply everything the United
States needs, so it is crucial that American continues to invest in the long-
term effort to develop other mining and processing projects both at home and
in friendly nations. He said central Asia might be one of the most promising
places to invest because the region has significant rare earth reserves, and
the Soviet Union already did some of the initial development work when it
controlled that territory. That could cut years off the time it will take to
build a new mine there.


“Keep in mind, China has almost a 40-year head start on us,” Althaus said.
“We have at least a couple of decades to catch up to China in terms of being
able to meet our own supply chain processes.”
阿爾陶斯說：「要記住，中國比我們領先將近40年。我們至少需要二十年，才能在供應鏈
自給上追趕上中國。」

Albanese’s visit comes just before Trump is planning to meet with Chinese
President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.
阿爾巴尼斯的訪問正值川普預定於本月稍晚在南韓與中國國家主席習近平會面之前。

The security partnership
Another topic of discussion was AUKUS, a security pact with Australia, the U.S
 and the United Kingdom that was signed during U.S. President Joe Biden’s
Democratic administration.

agreement now is “moving along very rapidly, very well.” Albanese said that
“our defense and security partnership with AUKUS is so important for us.”
川普週一指出，AUKUS「建立已有一段時間」，但目前「進展非常迅速而順利」。阿爾巴
尼斯表示：「AUKUS對我們的防衛與安全合作至關重要。」

John Phelan, the Navy secretary, said that the U.S. wants to take the original
 AUKUS framework and improve it for the three signatory countries while
clarifying “some of the ambiguity” in it.
美國海軍部長約翰· 菲倫表示，美方希望在原有AUKUS框架上進行改進，並釐清協議中「
一些模糊之處」，使三國皆受益。

“So it should be a win-win for everybody,” Phelan said.
菲倫說：「因此這應該是三方共贏。」

The center-left Albanese was reelected in May and suggested shortly after his
win that his party increased its majority by not modeling itself on Trumpism.
中間偏左的阿爾巴尼斯於五月連任，並在勝選後表示，他的政黨能擴大多數席次，部分原
因是「沒有效法川普主義」。

“Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way,
looking after each other while building for the future,” Albanese told
supporters during his victory speech.
阿爾巴尼斯在勝選演說中對支持者說：「澳洲人選擇以澳洲方式面對全球挑戰——彼此照
顧，同時建設未來。」

心得/評論：

此協議的本質，是美國為「去中國化」稀土供應鏈所做的最大一步。

稀土在戰機、導彈、電動車、半導體製造等領域皆不可或缺。

中國目前仍掌握：全球稀土開採約 60%–70%；
全球稀土精煉加工能力約 85%–90%。

因此，即使美國能開採原礦，
若無法脫離中國的加工鏈，仍受制於中國。
https://i.urusai.cc/OyrxL.JPG

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※ 作者: TyuzuChou 2025-10-21 09:44:45
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