U.S., Japan, Australia, India Agree to "Jointly Counter Supply Chain Disruptions"... Seemingly Targeting China

Criticism of arbitrary export restrictions and excess production capacity
China not named, but effectively targeted
Plans to recover critical minerals from waste as well

Foreign ministers from the Quad, the security partnership comprising the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, agreed to jointly counter China's control of supply chains in the critical minerals sector.

Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong pose for a group photo at a Quad foreign ministers' meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on the 31st (local time). Reuters-Yonhap News

On Oct. 31 (local time), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met in Atlanta, Georgia, where the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting was being held, and issued a joint statement outlining the agreement.

Without naming any country directly, they expressed "serious concern about non-market policies and practices that, through economic coercion such as arbitrary export restrictions and the creation of excess production capacity, disrupt global supply chains in key industries." Secretary Rubio also stressed that "the Quad is not an anti-China alliance or a grouping targeting any particular country," but "a cooperative arrangement based on shared interests and a common opposition to a particular administration." However, some interpret the remarks as an implicit reference to China's restrictions on rare-earth exports and its overcapacity problem.

Under a critical minerals cooperation initiative announced in May this year, the four countries are pursuing projects to recover critical minerals from sources such as electronic waste and scrap metal. They aim to reduce reliance on specific suppliers and encourage private investment in recycling, processing, and refining facilities. The United States will provide $10 million (about KRW 13.3 billion) to support the construction of critical minerals recovery facilities in India and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They also said that "initiatives such as superintelligence (SI, the term President Trump uses for artificial intelligence, or AI) and Pax Silica, an AI supply chain partnership led by the United States and including South Korea, among others, are important for future economic growth." They announced that they would provide more than $85 million (about KRW 113.543 billion) in technical and financial support "to expand access to trusted SI across the Indo-Pacific through projects including the Quad SI Accelerator."

Regarding this, The Nikkei analyzed that the four countries were emphasizing U.S.-led AI out of concern about its potential impact on economic security, as a number of Global South countries—emerging and developing nations located mainly in the Southern Hemisphere—are seeking to adopt inexpensive Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek.

They also expressed "deep concern about the spread of online and cyber fraud that threatens peace and security in countries and the international community." Kyodo News and other outlets reported that Motegi particularly emphasized the importance of a joint response to malicious cyber activities, including North Korean hacking.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.