The Commerce and Trade Minister of India, Piyush Goyal, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signed their names to an agreement last week promising to cooperate on strengthening supply chains in the two countries for lithium, cobalt and other critical minerals.
The Commerce Department said in a statement October 3 that the now-inked memorandum of understanding aims to build resilience for critical minerals in both countries. The pact was signed during Goyal’s visit to Washington.
“Priority areas of focus include identifying equipment, services, policies and best practices to facilitate the mutually beneficial commercial development of U.S. and Indian critical minerals exploration, extraction, processing and refining, recycling and recovery,” the agency said.
Goyal called the MOU a multi-dimensional partnership that will open supply chains for materials, technology development and investment flows to promote green energy. He added that both the U.S. and India will need to include third countries in their engagement, including mineral-rich countries in Africa and South America.
IN 2023, Japan signed a deal with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office allowing Japanese automakers to more fully participate in the credit, aiming to reduce U.S.-Japanese mineral dependence on China and prohibiting bilateral export controls on lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese and other minerals.
Source: India, US sign pact to cooperate on critical battery mineral supply chains | Reuters