(Reuters) – The United States, Japan, India and Australia will work to improve the security of supply chains for critical technologies such as clean energy and to ease a global semiconductor shortage, said Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The Quad nations, in their first in-person summit here on Friday in Washington, agreed on a partnership to secure critical infrastructure, the White House said.
Morrison told reporters after the meeting this will include connecting Australia’s raw minerals with manufacturing and processing capabilities, and with end users in the United States, India and Japan, according to a transcript released on Saturday by his government.
Australia is the world’s biggest supplier of rare earths outside of China, and is a major supplier of minerals used in electric vehicle batteries, such as nickel, copper and cobalt.
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