The United States and Chile are negotiating a supply agreement for rhenium.

The United States is negotiating with Chile over a rhenium supply agreement. Rhenium is a rare mineral that is crucial to defense and aerospace, and Chile controls about 50% of global supply.

Rhenium is indispensable because of its extreme heat resistance and lack of a substitute; it is vital to jet engines, turbines, and military systems.

This move is part of a broader strategy by the United States to secure supplies of critical minerals through global partnerships and strategic stockpiles, and to reduce reliance on foreign countries.

Oil and natural gas prices dominated the headlines, but as the world focused on the Middle East, U.S. officials had been busy elsewhere. As Chile—the world’s largest supplier of a certain specific critical mineral—negotiates a rhenium supply agreement with the United States, rhenium is considered essential to U.S. national security.

According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, rhenium is a truly rare element with an extremely high melting point of about 3180 degrees Celsius, which gives it strong resistance to heat and wear. In turn, that makes rhenium highly prized in the defense industry. Because most rhenium is extracted as a byproduct of copper mining, it’s no surprise that Chile is the largest producer, since this South American country is also the world’s top copper producer. As reported by UPI, Chile accounts for 50% of global rhenium supply.

UPI, citing remarks from an engineering professor at Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile, said: “Chile controls nearly half of the share of a mineral that the United States cannot produce in sufficient quantities. Washington has reclassified rhenium as a critical mineral in 2025 and clearly included it in a bilateral mining agreement with Chile. This makes it a true geopolitical asset, not just a mining asset.”

In fact, the Trump administration has prioritized critical minerals from day one. Most countries in the world are overdependent—both in terms of the supply of rare earths and other critical elements, and more importantly in terms of processing—on foreign sources, which has begun to raise concerns in the United States and the European Union, but the United States under Trump has moved much faster in taking action.

Last year, Washington reached an agreement with the Australian government to cooperate in developing a local supply of a certain critical mineral. According to the White House, this deal, worth more than $3 billion, could theoretically open up pathways to access resources worth $53 billion or more. Australia is one of the countries richest in mineral resources in the world. It has some of the largest lithium reserves, as well as metals and minerals used in rare earths, tungsten, vanadium, manganese, cobalt, copper, and other industries. The agreement with the Trump administration would help increase the production of these metals and minerals and diversify the U.S. supply chain.

This year, President Trump announced the establishment of a national strategic stockpile for critical metals and minerals worth $12 billion to ensure the United States is not made vulnerable by China’s supply shifts. The stockpile will include rare earths and some of the most in-demand metals and minerals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite, which are used for weapon systems, satellites, batteries, data centers, and industrial motors.

However, when it comes to weapon systems, rhenium is far more valuable than these other metals and minerals. It has no substitutes, and its role in defense and aerospace applications is crucial—briefly put, rhenium really is indispensable. Professor Víctor Pérez of Adolfo Ibáñez University said: “It is the metal that enables aircraft engines and military turbines to avoid deformation under extreme temperatures.”

The global competition for critical minerals is still ongoing, even though it hasn’t become the headline story for everything. The United States has just taken an important step in Chile, as part of a broader effort to engage more with South America’s mineral resources. Every step matters. In the field of critical minerals, the United States still has a lot to catch up on compared with other countries, and speed is crucial—especially in the current geopolitical situation.

A massive flow of information and precise analysis—exclusively on the Sina Finance APP

责任编辑：张俊 SF065