Washington Courts Brazil for Rare Earths as China Grips

Brazil rare earths have become one of the most consequential geopolitical assets in the Western Hemisphere. On Wednesday, the Trump administration sent its most senior critical minerals official to São Paulo in a bid to lock down supply agreements that would reduce America’s near-total dependence on Chinese processing.

David Copley, a special adviser to Trump on the National Security Council and the White House’s point person on mineral supply chains, led a seven-member delegation drawn from six federal agencies. The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, examines how the critical minerals race is testing whether Washington and Brasília can separate commercial interests from the political friction that nearly derailed the visit.

Brazil Rare Earths: What Washington Wants

The stakes are enormous. China controls roughly 60% of global rare earth mining and nearly 90% of refining capacity. Beijing restricted exports of several critical minerals last year in direct retaliation for US tariffs, turning geological dominance into a geopolitical weapon.

Brazil holds the world’s second-largest rare earth reserves at roughly 21 million tonnes, according to the US Geological Survey. It also supplies more than 90% of global niobium — an alloy essential to aerospace and advanced steel — and is America’s largest external source of alumina, providing about 60% of US imports.

The São Paulo forum showcased seven Brazil-based mining projects, including Sigma Lithium’s Grota do Cirilo, Atlas Lithium‘s Neves, Viridis Mining’s Colossus rare earth project in Minas Gerais, and Serra Verde’s Pela Ema mine in Goiás. The US and the state of Goiás signed a memorandum of understanding on rare earths cooperation at the event.

American money is already flowing. The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed $465 million to Serra Verde and $5 million to Aclara Resources, while the State Department’s February Critical Minerals Ministerial earmarked $565 million for rare earth extraction in Brazil. The EXIM Bank has issued $14.8 billion in letters of interest for critical minerals projects globally under Trump, with Brazil as a priority destination.

The Diplomatic Backdrop

The forum was originally supposed to include Darren Beattie, Trump’s senior adviser for Brazil policy at the State Department. But Beattie’s visa was revoked by the Lula government on March 13 after it emerged he had concealed plans to visit jailed ex-president Jair Bolsonaro — a visit Brazil’s foreign ministry called potential “undue interference in internal affairs” during an election year.

Lula framed the decision as reciprocity. The US had previously revoked visas for Health Minister Alexandre Padilha’s wife and 10-year-old daughter. “That American guy is banned from Brazil until they release my health minister’s visa,” Lula said. The incident forced organizers to restrict media access — only the opening panel is open to credentialed journalists.

Despite the friction, the minerals track appears insulated from the political one. Brazil sent only an observer — not a minister — to Trump‘s February Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, and Lula’s government has refused to join any exclusive alliance or take sides in the US-China standoff.

But Washington has signaled willingness to meet Brazil’s key demand: processing and refining on Brazilian soil, not just raw extraction. Negotiations toward a formal bilateral agreement are reportedly underway, with a possible announcement during a future Lula visit to Washington that has no confirmed date. The EU is also courting Brasília for rare earths, lithium, and nickel, giving Brazil leverage that few mineral-rich nations possess. For Washington, the Brazil rare earths partnership may be the single most important supply-chain bet outside China — if the politics can keep up with the geology.

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