{"text":[[{"start":7.7,"text":"Donald Trump’s top trade official has told US allies they must pay more for critical minerals sourced from outside China as Washington tries to break Beijing’s stranglehold on supplies."}],[{"start":19.85,"text":"Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, said American allies must be ready to pay a “national security premium” for the minerals, which would be sourced from within a proposed group of trading partners including Europe."}],[{"start":31.85,"text":"The US wants the club of countries to trade minerals at set minimum prices to protect their investments in mining and processing, and could hit outside producers — such as China — with steep tariffs or other barriers to prevent them driving down prices. "}],[{"start":46.400000000000006,"text":"But the proposal has already alarmed some allies, according to people familiar with private talks between Washington and foreign officials, who fear the fledgling scheme will raise costs for businesses and attract trade retaliation from China."}],[{"start":60.45,"text":"The divisions over the details of the scheme underscore the difficulty of countering China’s decades of careful investment in key sectors, and come as wealthy economies grapple with soaring energy costs and inflation triggered by the war in Iran. "}],[{"start":76.75,"text":"Greer, who has been drawing up a draft of specific details to share with partners, said he blamed countries’ fixation on business costs for western reliance on China for key minerals. "}],[{"start":87.7,"text":"“When trading partners express concerns about the economic cost of price floors or mechanisms, I just say: what you’re talking about, which is cost efficiency, this is why we are in the situation we’re in,” Greer told the FT. "}],[{"start":101.65,"text":"“There is a premium we pay, and I call it the national security premium, and we will all pay a national security premium to have a secure supply chain,” Greer said, describing his message to US allies. "}],[{"start":114.4,"text":"Several people familiar with talks between Washington and its trading partners said there were concerns that protecting minerals would increase costs for sectors such as defence, automaking and clean energy."}],[{"start":126.2,"text":"US allies are also privately concerned that the scheme may attract retaliation from China, who could object to having trade measures imposed on their minerals, the people said. "}],[{"start":135.25,"text":"China has dominated the global share of minerals mining and processing for decades, and has previously weaponised its control of the sector."}],[{"start":143.2,"text":"Securing a supply of rare earths and critical minerals has become one of the Trump administration’s top priorities since China choked off the supply of rare earths using export controls last year. "}],[{"start":154.75,"text":"US trading partners signalled willingness to work with Washington to secure minerals supply chains earlier this year, when the EU and Japan published a joint statement promising to “explore a plurilateral trade initiative with like-minded partners on trade in critical minerals”."}],[{"start":172.55,"text":"The initiative “could include” co-ordinated trade policy mechanisms, such as border-adjusted price floors, price gap subsidies or agreements to buy minerals from each other at agreed prices, the text said in February. "}],[{"start":194.05,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776837810_8110.mp3"}