Washington: U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday urged allies and partners to join a proposed critical minerals trading bloc, emphasizing the importance of collaboration as the United States intensifies efforts to counter China's significant control over vital resources.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Vance addressed a multilateral meeting on critical minerals in Washington, D.C., highlighting that the Trump administration aims to create a "preferential trade zone." This zone would maintain "price floors" through "adjustable tariffs" and protect itself from "external disruptions." The call for the bloc coincided with the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial at the State Department, attended by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and representatives from numerous countries to strengthen and diversify critical mineral supply chains essential for high-tech military and consumer products.

Vance articulated the U.S. administration's vision of forming a trading bloc with allies and partners to ensure American industrial access while expanding production across the zone. He proposed establishing reference prices for critical minerals at each production stage, with these prices acting as a floor maintained by adjustable tariffs to preserve pricing integrity within the preferential zone.

Vice President Vance stated that the trading zone would offer "immediate and durable" benefits, ensuring consistent pricing over time despite global market fluctuations. The goal is to develop diverse production centers, stable investment conditions, and resilient supply chains, shielding against external disruptions.

While Vance refrained from directly naming China, the proposed trading bloc aims to mitigate Beijing's influence amid worries that China's control over certain resources, such as rare earth elements, has exposed supply chain vulnerabilities during the escalating Sino-U.S. rivalry.

Vance emphasized the need for enhanced collaboration among global officials present at the ministerial meeting, asserting, "We are all on the same team. We are all rowing in the same direction." He noted the significant representation of the world's GDP at the meeting and the collective capacity to achieve greater independence and self-reliance.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also addressed the meeting, prioritizing the resolution of supply chain vulnerabilities as a key policy focus of the Trump administration. He stressed the objective of securing a global market and supply chain that is enduring and accessible to all nations at an affordable price.

In a subsequent press conference, Rubio expressed gratitude to South Korea for its leadership role in the Minerals Security Partnership, an earlier U.S.-led initiative to cultivate diverse and sustainable critical energy mineral supply chains. "I want to thank the Republic of Korea ... for their leadership on the previous entity," he stated.