March 20, 2026 -  

The US is stepping up the pressure it is putting on Brazil to enter a minerals agreement.  Brazil reportedly holds the world’s second largest reserves of rare earths, second only to China, but it needs help turning reserves into production and exports. At the same time, the country is resisting a deal because it wants full control of its resources, including the ability to sell them to any country it wants.  With the goal of making deals between the U.S. and Brazilian mining companies, the US this week hosted a minerals forum in São Paulo, but Brazil’s government was a no-show. Clearly a lot more to watch here.

In more promising dealmaking, the U.S. and Japan yesterday released an action plan to develop alternatives to China for minerals supply chains. The plan includes a focus on price floors for ‌a select group of minerals. They did not identify which minerals would be considered first for price floors.

And in what’s now become a daily look at the market impacts of the conflict in the middle east, he European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan all held interest rates steady on Thursday, following the Federal Reserve’s decision to also hold rates steady.  Each reportedly believes a long disruption to energy supplies is going to continue to impact energy prices and electricity bills.