Dep Sec Adeyemo Discusses Critical Mineral Agreement With EU Officials

US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo has met with, "counterparts from the European Commission and European Union and executives from companies in the clean energy industry in Brussels," to discuss a series of initiatives related to critical mineral supply chains and clean energy.

• According to the Treasury Department, talks included, "working to reach a critical minerals agreement between the U.S. and EU," and a meeting, "with leaders from the clean energy materials industry to discuss opportunities to strengthen critical supply chains."
• A senior Treasury Department official told Reuters that the US is "well positioned" to reach a deal with the EU before the end of the year.
• The official said: "Our hope is to make progress in the coming weeks, with before the end of the year concluding some type of critical mineral agreements with our allies and partners here in Europe."
• A deal with the EU is likely to be similar to one struck with Japan earlier this year which was criticised by Democrat and Republicans in Congress for overstepping authority of the executive in negotiating trade deals without Congressional approval.