NEW YORK — Italy and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals that establishes a formal framework for cooperation on supply-chain security, mining, processing, recycling and critical-mineral pricing.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the agreement in New York on September 21 during the United Nations General Assembly. The MoU establishes an Italy-US Technical Working Group on critical minerals, which will oversee follow-up to the bilateral cooperation.
The agreement covers the exchange of information and expertise and the mobilisation of public and private resources for investment across mining, processing and recycling. It also covers critical minerals and rare earths that Italy and the US consider important to strategic technologies.
The MoU does not announce a specific mine, processing plant or investment amount. Instead, it creates a structure through which the two countries can develop cooperation and potential projects.
Mining, Processing and Recycling
The new technical working group will give the agreement an operational structure.
According to Italy’s Foreign Ministry, the two countries will strengthen cooperation to secure critical-mineral supply chains through information and expertise sharing. They will also seek to mobilise public and private resources for investments in mining, processing and recycling.
Italy has highlighted recycling as an area where its companies have established expertise.
The agreement therefore covers several stages of the critical-mineral value chain rather than focusing only on mineral extraction.
For companies, the framework could provide a channel for identifying areas of cooperation. However, the MoU itself does not commit either country to a specific commercial project.
Pricing Enters the Agreement
The MoU also addresses the market prices of critical raw materials.
Italy and the United States will work with international partners to develop what Rome describes as fairer price-setting mechanisms for critical raw materials.
The agreement does not establish a fixed price or price floor. Instead, it creates a commitment to cooperate with other international partners on how critical raw materials are priced.
The issue is also part of wider US-European discussions. In April, the United States and European Union agreed on an Action Plan for Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resilience. The plan provides a framework for coordinating trade policies and measures affecting critical-mineral supply chains, with the stated aim of working toward a binding plurilateral agreement on critical-mineral trade.
The Italy-US MoU adds a bilateral channel to that broader transatlantic effort.
Pax Silica Connects Minerals With Technology
The agreement follows Italy’s decision to join Pax Silica on July 31.
Pax Silica is a US-promoted international strategic initiative focused on cooperation around advanced-technology supply chains. Its areas of interest include semiconductors, artificial intelligence and the critical minerals needed for those sectors.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the September critical-minerals agreement is linked to this wider cooperation. The MoU specifically aims to strengthen Italy-US collaboration on diversifying and securing supply chains, including within the Pax Silica framework.
For Italy, that places critical minerals within a wider policy agenda covering technology, economic security and resilient supply chains.
FORGE Adds Another Layer
The MoU also follows Tajani’s participation in the February ministerial event in Washington that launched the US FORGE, or Forum for Geostrategic Engagement on Resources, initiative on critical minerals.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry has linked the September agreement to that earlier engagement. The MoU is also intended to support broader multilateral coordination, including work promoted by the G7 Alliance for Resilience and Production.
The sequence gives Italy several channels for critical-mineral cooperation with the United States and other partners.
Italy Is Also Working With Argentina
The US agreement is part of a wider Italian effort to develop international partnerships around critical raw materials.
Tajani said in a September interview that Italy had already concluded a similar agreement with Argentina. He also described the US agreement as a concrete industrial and trade policy arrangement.
The Argentina agreement is separate from the new Italy-US MoU. Together with Italy’s participation in Pax Silica and its engagement with US, EU and G7 initiatives, it shows the range of international frameworks Italy is using to address critical-mineral supply chains.
From Agreement to Implementation
The immediate next step is the work of the new Italy-US Technical Working Group.
The MoU provides for cooperation on mining, processing and recycling, mobilisation of public and private resources, information and expertise sharing, and work with international partners on critical-mineral pricing mechanisms.
It does not, however, guarantee new production capacity or identify specific projects.
The significance of the agreement will therefore depend on what follows: whether the bilateral framework leads to concrete investment, processing capacity, recycling projects and supply-chain arrangements.
For now, the MoU gives Italy and the United States a formal mechanism for turning their critical-minerals cooperation into practical work across the supply chain.
