EU moves forward with Critical Minerals Agreement negotiations with the US

Today, the European Commission has adopted its negotiating directives for a Critical Minerals Agreement (CMA) with the United States. The objective is to foster EU-US supply chains in critical raw materials needed in the production of electric vehicle batteries. In 2022 alone, the EU exported €8.3 billion worth of critical raw materials relevant to this industry.

Concluding an EU-US CMA will ensure that as an ally, the EU is granted a status equivalent to US free trade agreement partners pursuant to the US Inflation Reduction Act. EU firms will then be able to compete on a level playing field with US and third country competitors on the US market, such as Chile, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.