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The United States and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals cooperation on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani formalized the pact, which establishes a bilateral technical working group to drive practical collaboration. The US Department of State reported that the agreement focuses on recycling and recovery of critical materials while strengthening overall supply chain resilience. Rubio described Italy as a great partner and expressed pleasure at signing the memorandum on this important topic.
Tajani emphasized the deal’s significance for Italy as Europe’s second largest industrial country and the world’s fourth in trade terms. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the memorandum will enable exchange of information and expertise along with mobilization of public and private resources for investments in extraction, processing and recycling. Tajani said in a statement that the prices of raw materials are very important and that the agreement with America is a key point for Italy’s industrial policy strategy. The pact complements a similar US-European Union understanding signed in April and follows Italy’s involvement in US-led initiatives including the FORGE forum and PAX Silica project.
Critical minerals play an essential role in clean energy technologies, electronics manufacturing and defense systems. The International Energy Agency’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026 found that demand for key energy minerals has grown at close to 10 percent per year on average in recent years, outpacing growth for base metals. Lithium demand has risen around 25 percent annually over the past two years while the energy sector drove roughly 75 percent of overall demand growth in 2025, the IEA assessment showed. Battery demand exceeded 1.5 terawatt hours last year with storage systems emerging as a major contributor.
Supply concentration has intensified with the average share of the top refined supplier for energy minerals reaching 70 percent in 2025 according to the International Energy Agency. The IEA data places China as the dominant player in refining for most materials while Indonesia leads in nickel contributing to three-quarters of recent supply growth between the top producers. The new US-Italy working group will address these dynamics by promoting diversified sourcing and fairer international price determination mechanisms as outlined in the Italian Foreign Ministry release.
Investment in critical minerals projects declined 9 percent in 2025 marking the first substantial drop since 2020 amid price volatility and policy uncertainties the International Energy Agency reported. Italian officials noted that the country possesses leading companies in recycling which will enhance the partnership’s capabilities in that segment. The memorandum also supports multilateral coordination such as the G7 alliance on resilient production of critical materials according to statements from both governments.
The agreement aims to reduce reliance on single suppliers and create alternative markets for these resources. Tajani told reporters that the pact seeks to counter hegemony in raw material pricing and make Italian products more competitive. Rubio and Tajani agreed that the joint working group will identify specific areas for collaboration in the coming months the US Department of State indicated.
