You say that the US sometimes gets in Europe's way. How so?
"The problem with the United States... I took a close look at the profiles of the people who deal with critical raw materials for the US government. What you see is that they are traders, Chamber of Commerce bosses, people from the trading floor. They know how to connect supply and demand, how to negotiate prices. Money is no problem for them; they can put billions on the table.
"Last month, I was supposed to go to Brazil to discuss a mine where rare earth metals are extracted. Three days before, we were told that the Americans had come by, put money on the table, and bought up all production until 2030. We knew they were working on it, but we assumed that because of the shutdown, there was no money available. They had already taken that into account; the money had already been reserved."
EU-Industriekommissar Stéphane Séjourné
e: rip sollte in usa thread weil EU got trumped
