NZ in talks with US on Trump minerals deal

2026-01-30 - 01:59

New Zealand has been holding closed-door discussions with the United States on the supply of critical minerals, as Donald Trump threatens to place new tariffs on countries who fail to sign a deal. The admission comes on the back of a memorandum submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal, in which claimants noted a “secret” critical minerals deal struck between The US and Australia last year. The submission says a similarly private deal in Aotearoa would show “willful disregard” by the Crown for its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to Newsroom that New Zealand was in discussions with the US regarding a “non-binding critical minerals framework”. It’s believed an announcement on the matter could be coming within a matter of weeks. The US has pressured allied nations to exploit critical mineral deposits, a key part of the nation’s military and computing race with China which currently produces 90 percent of processed rare earth minerals worldwide. Critical and rare-earth minerals (including nickel, antimony, cobalt and vanadium – the target of the Taranaki seabed mine) are essential for advanced technologies, especially specialised magnets, which are used in essentially all electronics and vehicles. In October last year, China demonstrated its hold on the global supply when it announced foreign companies would need approval from its government to export magnets that contained even trace amounts of rare-earth materials of Chinese origin or were produced with Chinese technology. Trump has sought to find an alternative supply, a drive that inspired him to float the idea of invading allied territory in Greenland and seizing it by force. He found success late last year, when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to Washington to ink an $14 billion deal to exploit Australia’s rich rare earth deposits. Shortly after the deal was made, Australian independent senator Lidia Thorpe declared: “Albanese is trading stolen goods from stolen land with Trump in this minerals deal, much of it to fuel the US war machine.” Trump has made clear his desire to bolster his country’s military and technological prowess, and his expectation that allied nations do the same. Critical minerals were a limiting factor in both of these aspirations, but the Australian deal excited him. “In about a year from now we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earth that you won’t know what to do with them,” said Trump. “They’ll be worth $2.” Intentional or not, devaluing the price of critical minerals was precisely how China managed to corner so much of the global supply, an approach outlined in an official proclamation from Trump on January 14. In the proclamation, Trump said the US would issue retaliatory tariffs on any “foreign trading partners” that did not ink a deal similar to Australia’s, setting a 180-day deadline for action. It was not clear which foreign nations Trump had in mind, but the proclamation was based on a report he received just four days after Albanese paid a visit. Coalition championing minerals sector New Zealand has been actively developing its critical mineral sector, with Jones as its champion. In January 2025, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment published the Crown’s minerals strategy with a list of 37 “critical minerals” – 21 of which could be exploited here (including coal, which is not a mineral). The strategy’s goal was to double mineral exports to $3b by 2035 with an emphasis on strengthening international partnerships. Later that year, in November, the Government announced New Zealand had joined the Minerals Security Partnership: a group of 15 nations plus the European Union, including fellow Five Eyes intelligence partners the US, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. In the announcement, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the partnership was of “significant importance for New Zealand’s international relationships”. Jones explicitly linked the deal to attracting foreign investment in the mining sector and fuelling international demand for rare earths. On the back of Trump’s 180-day deadline, if New Zealand has been identified as a potential “foreign trading partner” – and it did officially join a trading partnership last year – Trump could impose further import tariffs if New Zealand did not allow his government to exploit its local deposits of rare earth minerals. In early January, parties engaged with an ongoing Waitangi Tribunal case filed an urgent memorandum to find out if Jones’s government has been negotiating with Trump’s regime behind closed doors. In the memo, lodged as part of the tribunal’s climate change priority inquiry (WAI 3325), the claimants argued: “There is a risk that such a negotiation is already underway and could be finalised and signed without Māori, or anyone else in Aotearoa, being made aware.” Jones’s own critical minerals list and wider strategy was released with the commitment to be “guided by overarching principles to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations”. ‘Donald Trump says “jump” and Christopher Luxon asks “how high?”‘ Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party co-leader If the Crown were to enter into a backroom deal with the Trump regime for minerals mined in Aotearoa, the memo argued it would breach the principles of rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga, a course of action “antithetical to tikanga, mātauranga and kaitiakitanga”. While Jones refused to comment, a foreign ministry spokesperson told Newsroom: “New Zealand is in discussions with the United States regarding a non-binding critical minerals framework. Officials are going through a process of analysis, targeted consultation and providing advice to relevant ministers.” Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick told Newsroom said the claim demonstrated that if these negotiations were already taking place, they were likely to be based on terms dictated by the United States. She didn’t think the coalition Government under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s leadership was able to push back on such terms. “Luxon’s rolling over and refusing to take a principled stand on our interests didn’t stop Trump throwing tariffs on our exports before, and there’s no reason to expect complying with Trump’s threats would somehow work now,” said Swarbrick. “Donald Trump says ‘jump’ and Christopher Luxon asks ‘how high?’”