The United States is stepping up its campaign to secure critical minerals supplies in Latin America, with Chile emerging as a key partner in Washington’s broader effort to reduce dependence on China for resources essential to modern industry, defense and energy systems.
Chile’s foreign ministry said Thursday that Santiago and Washington have signed a joint statement to begin formal discussions on critical minerals and rare earths, with a first meeting set to take place within the next two weeks. The talks come as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to build alternative supply chains for minerals used in electric vehicles, semiconductors, defense systems and consumer electronics.“I believe there is much we can do with the United States and Chile to strengthen the supply chains of these minerals,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told journalists in Chile, where right-wing leader Jose Antonio Kast was sworn in as president on Wednesday.
The new dialogue with Chile fits into a wider U.S. regional strategy. Since January 2025, Washington has directed more than $1 billion toward critical minerals investments across Latin America, signaling a more assertive push to secure supplies of lithium, copper, and rare earths vital to energy security, defense, and advanced technology.
According to a report by law firm White & Case, the surge in U.S. investment reflects a major shift in how governments and financiers now view mining. Critical minerals are no longer seen simply as commodities tied to the green transition; they are increasingly treated as strategic assets central to national and energy security.
Projects in Brazil and Argentina are drawing direct interest from U.S. agencies and multilateral lenders through loans, equity stakes and structured offtake agreements designed to channel output into U.S.-aligned supply chains. Recent examples include a $100 million Inter-American Development Bank loan for a $2.5 billion lithium project in Argentina, and a proposed $465 million investment by the U.S. Development Finance Corporation to expand Serra Verde’s rare earth operations in Brazil’s Goiás state.
“Development of rare earth and critical minerals projects is no longer just a matter of energy transition, but rather, energy security,” Tiago Abreu, chief development officer of Brazilian Rare Earths, said at a mining summit in Belo Horizonte in June 2025.
Latin America is central to this strategy. The region holds roughly 60% of the world’s lithium reserves, while countries such as Chile, Argentina and Brazil also possess major copper and rare earth resources.
Chile occupies a particularly important place in this emerging map. It is the world’s largest copper producer and the second-largest lithium producer, making it indispensable to any attempt to diversify mineral supply chains away from China.
Copper is expected to remain the main driver of mining investment across Latin America, with global demand for the metal, crucial for electrification, renewable energy, and power grids, projected to nearly double by 2035. In Chile alone, several copper projects are expected to begin operating next year, with combined investment exceeding $7 billion.
The opening of U.S.-Chile talks, therefore, reflects more than bilateral cooperation. It underscores Chile’s role as a cornerstone of regional mining strategy at a time when access to copper, lithium and rare earths is becoming a geopolitical issue.
While Chile dominates copper production and remains a major lithium producer, Brazil and Argentina are also becoming focal points of Washington’s critical minerals push. Brazil hosts the world’s second-largest rare earth reserves after China and has attracted growing investor attention in Minas Gerais, where a cluster of projects has earned the nickname “Lithium Valley.” Although Brazil holds roughly 23% of global rare earth reserves, it accounts for only a tiny fraction of global production, underscoring its growth potential.
Argentina, meanwhile, has moved aggressively to attract mining capital. Its Incentive Regime for Large Investments, known as RIGI, was launched in July 2024 and offers tax, customs and foreign exchange stability for projects worth more than $200 million. Rio Tinto became the first company approved under the framework in May 2025 for a $2.5 billion lithium project in Salta. Argentina already has the largest number of lithium projects in Latin America, with seven currently operating. National lithium output capacity rose from 75,500 tonnes per year in 2023 to about 186,000 tonnes in 2025, and the government expects that figure to reach 658,000 tonnes by 2035.
Market conditions are also improving. Battery-grade lithium carbonate was trading near $18,200 per tonne in early January 2026, recovering from a prolonged downturn as demand for grid-scale energy storage expands.
Even as U.S. investment accelerates, Latin American governments are continuing to balance ties with both Washington and Beijing. Chinese companies remain dominant in mineral processing, especially in rare earths, with more than 90% of global processing capacity in China.
That reality means countries across the region are largely taking a pragmatic approach, welcoming investment from both powers while seeking to maximize economic benefits and build more domestic processing capacity. Inter-American Development Bank President Ilan Goldfajn said in December that governments across the political spectrum are focused on moving up the value chain.“We are hearing from countries from left to right, independent of political inclination, that this is the moment to increase the value added to their critical minerals,” Goldfajn said.
This push for value-added processing is becoming a defining theme in regional policy. Rather than simply exporting raw materials, many Latin American governments want to develop refining, processing and downstream industries that can capture greater economic returns.
Geopolitical considerations are increasingly shaping mining investment, transactions and regulatory approvals. White & Case analysts Rebecca Campbell and Fernando J. de la Hoz note that global political pressures are now influencing deals far beyond national borders. They cite MMG’s proposed acquisition of Anglo American’s nickel assets in Brazil currently under Phase II merger review by European regulators as an example of how decisions in Brussels or Washington can affect mining transactions in Latin America. At the same time, critical minerals are gaining strategic relevance well beyond clean energy. The defense, aerospace, and advanced technology sectors are all driving demand for secure and reliable supply chains. As a result, some mining companies in Latin America are increasingly aligning their projects with U.S. strategic priorities to secure financing and long-term offtake agreements.
Still, major risks remain. Political uncertainty, environmental permitting, community engagement, resource nationalism and bureaucratic delays continue to shape project timelines across the region. Argentina has moved quickly to simplify regulations and attract foreign capital, while Brazil’s reforms have been more gradual and, in some cases, have increased compliance burdens.
The launch of critical minerals talks between Chile and the United States marks another step in a broader transformation of the global mining sector. Geology alone is no longer enough to determine where investment flows. Government policy, geopolitical alignment and supply chain strategy are increasingly decisive.
For Washington, Latin America has become essential to building alternative supplies of the minerals needed for the industries of the future. For countries such as Chile, Argentina and Brazil, the moment presents both opportunity and challenge: attracting foreign capital while retaining sovereignty, building domestic value chains and navigating intensifying rivalry between the United States and China. As the first U.S.-Chile meeting approaches, it is clear that critical minerals are no longer just a mining story. They are now central to trade, diplomacy, industrial strategy and global power.