US president Donald Trump visits Central Asian leaders in the White home © Getty Images / Andrew Harnik
U.S. president Donald Trump announced a series of trade and investment agreements focusing on uncommon earth minerals, with leaders of Central Asian states. This decision is in line with Washington's desire to extend its engagement in a region rich in natural materials in the face of tense trade relations with China.
The agreements were concluded after a Thursday summit in the White House, in which Trump and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan participated.
The summit focused on key minerals, energy cooperation and trade diversification.
Trump stressed that Central Asia is "Extremely rich region" with immense reserves of uranium, copper, gold and uncommon earth elements.
He said his administration was establishing fresh partnerships to diversify supply chains and strengthen US access to key minerals.
The gathering resulted in respective trade and natural materials agreements, including fresh contracts worth $17.2 billion between Kazakhstan and US companies and an agreement with Astana worth $1.1 billion to operate 1 of the world's largest unused tungsten deposits.
Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan besides agreed to acquisition 37 Boeing aircraft. Trump besides announced that Uzbekistan plans to invest over $100 billion over the next decade in American industries specified as aviation, car parts and critical minerals.
The summit takes place a week after Trump's gathering with China's president Xi Jinping in South Korea, in order to solve the ongoing ‘commercial war’ between Washington and Beijing.
After the meeting, China agreed to suspend for a year fresh controls on exports of uncommon earth elements, and the United States deferred plans to impose 100% of the duties on Chinese goods.
However, Washington has since intensified its efforts to safe alternate sources of strategical materials, as Beijing presently controls around 90% of the world's processing of uncommon earth elements.
In addition to China's neighbours from Central Asia, the United States has late signed agreements to extract uncommon elements besides with Japan and Ukraine.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.rt.com/news/627460-us-central-asia-deals/