The Canadian government announced yesterday that it had ordered the divestiture of investments by three Chinese companies in Canadian critical mineral companies operating in both Canada and in South America.

At a WTO meeting last week, China raised concerns about recent U.S. legislation involving industrial subsidies, and the United States pushed back.

In the context of a trip to Japan and South Korea, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell commented on issues related to critical minerals, trade relations with China, and China's CPTPP accession. On China's CPTPP accession prospects, Farrell expressed doubt about China's chances of joining

Chinese electronic vehicle (EV) maker NIO is making a big investment to secure its access to lithium, a raw material used in EV batteries.

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) is pressing the Biden Administration on a possible Energy Department loan to support a U.S. lithium mine investment by a company with ties to Chinese lithium company Ganfeng.

Two Republican members of Congress have introduced legislation that would respond to concerns about China and Russia having too much power over critical minerals around the world.

An EU-Indonesia WTO dispute over Indonesian export restrictions on nickel ore has a close connection to Chinese investment in the Indonesian nickel processing sector. A recent statement by the Indonesian President suggests Indonesia is likely to lose the WTO litigation, but even so, their goal with the policy seems to