US-Gulf critical minerals ties grow in bid to weaken China’s grip on industry
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are emerging as indispensable partners to the United States in its efforts to “friend-shore” a strategic sector and supply chains dominated by China.
In a year when China has weaponized its dominance of critical minerals, Western powers have found Gulf states ready to assist a US-led push to reshape access to the raw materials needed to power tomorrow’s economy.
That was on display last week when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington, which produced headline-grabbing deals spanning defense, artificial intelligence and beyond. But some of the most consequential moves got less attention: a strategic critical minerals cooperation agreement and the launch of a joint venture designed to integrate US-Saudi rare earths supply chains via a new refinery in the kingdom.
Weeks earlier, the US government and the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund ADQ helped launch a $1.8 billion fund to invest in critical minerals supply chains. Meanwhile, on Nov. 21, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund inked a critical minerals partnership with Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines after recently agreeing to inject $500 million.
This flurry of deals comes amid intensifying US-China competition over the minerals essential to building everything from fighter jets to electric vehicles and iPhones. China, which refined 90% of the world’s rare earths elements last year, has tightened export controls in 2025 amid trade tensions with the Trump administration.
