In economic matters, this week the spotlight turned to President Sheinbaum’s Plan to promote investments in infrastructure. Perhaps that is why so much attention has not been paid to something that is gigantic: Mexico and the United States have agreed to work together on critical minerals.
This plan is part of what is beginning to be called Critical Minerals Diplomacy. At the center is the White House’s eagerness to close the enormous gap that separates it from China in the production and processing of critical minerals (China has 70% of the world’s capacity and the United States barely 12%).
The agreement between Mexico and the United States is destined to transform mining activity in Mexico. It could bring multimillion-dollar investments, but it requires fundamental changes in the rules of the game and an exchange of information that does not exist now. The action plan involves advancing common regulation for the mining, processing and trade of critical minerals. The preparation of geological maps and the implementation of rapid response mechanisms to disruptions in supply chains are contemplated.
If the agreement is met, there will be binational work to coordinate investments and trade policies related to critical minerals. The United States is talking about establishing price floors for minerals, as a way to guarantee that producers have the resources that allow them to keep mining operations in production. This minimum price mechanism will include other countries and could change the way global mineral markets work.
The agreement with Mexico is part of a puzzle that the United States is putting together. A few weeks ago, the Secretary of the Treasury, Édgar Amador, was at a meeting of Finance Ministers where the topic surprised the attendees: they did not talk about macroeconomic balances or financial flows, but about the challenges regarding critical minerals and the need to coordinate. For the United States Government, critical minerals are any mineral, element, substance or material that fulfills an essential function in one or more strategic technologies. There are 60 minerals on the list, but more can be added at any time.
The Trump administration is in a hurry. It announced this week a $12 billion fund to establish a strategic reserve of critical minerals. He held a meeting of 55 countries that could form a bloc to counteract the influence that China has on these materials that are crucial for the development of products ranging from smartphones to satellites, including data centers, electric cars and medical equipment.
Is Mexico ready for this alliance with the United States? Clearly not. The White House expects us to move much faster. We have a mining law that was approved in 2023 that is incompatible with a binational alliance and that seems designed to put obstacles in the way of the development of mining activity. One of the most absurd aspects of this legislation is that it restricts exploration activities to work that can be done by the Mexican Geological Service, an entity that does not have the resources to undertake work of the magnitude that the United States is proposing.
Can we coordinate or are we condemned to open another front with Trump’s team? The action plan being developed by the Ministry of Economy and the United States Trade Representative, USTR, goes in the opposite direction to everything that was said to justify the birth of Litiomex, the national lithium monopoly, which until now has been nothing more than a monument to rhetoric. Lithium was shielded on paper, although no resources were allocated to explore or exploit the reserves that could exist in national territory.
In light of what is happening in the confrontation between the United States and China, the Mexican Government will have many difficulties in sustaining a mining policy where State control and “sovereignty” are above any other consideration. The United States wants access to all the critical minerals in Mexican territory. For them, it is a matter of national security and an aspect where they cannot let China continue to dictate the rules.
Mexico is a mining power and is a super valuable ally. Copper, fluorite, aluminum, manganese, graphite, nickel are produced and exported here. There is a presence of cobalt in BCS and Sonora. Of the rare earths, in Coahuila there is cerium, lantanium, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, gadolinium and yttrium. There are many more minerals, but we have not spent enough to have an accurate map of our mining heritage.
For Mexico, this invitation/demand to work with the United States on critical minerals is an opportunity to reinforce our position as a key partner in North America and the global map. It is also an extraordinary opportunity to relaunch mining and obtain from it the wealth and jobs that we should. There is a risk of re-editing, in the 21st century, a history of mining associated with colonialism. For now, it is necessary to open the discussion before it is too late: what are we going to do with critical minerals?
