Brazil has an advantage in tariff talks with the US since its subsurface is abundant in rare earth minerals that are sought after by producers in a Chinese-dominated industry.
The South American behemoth has the second-largest deposits of these elements in the world, which are used in everything from guided missiles and jet engines to smart phones, solar panels, and electric cars.
A near-monopoly on rare earth production is held by China, a rival of the United States that, like Brazil, is embroiled in a tariff dispute with the administration of President Donald Trump.
And for Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, there is “a convergence of interests between our mineral potential and American capital.”
The issue could feature at a possible meeting this weekend between Trump and Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur.
Lula himself said Friday he was willing to “talk about everything” with Trump, “from Gaza to Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, critical minerals, rare earths.”
Brazil is subject to a punitive 50-percent tariff on certain exports to the United States over the coup trial of Lula’s rightwing predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in what Trump has labeled a “witch hunt.”
Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison last month.
