In a three-hour White House meeting on Thursday, Brazil’s president pitched his country’s minerals to all comers
5-MIN READ5-MINIgor Patrickin Rio de JaneiroPublished: 7:01am, 8 May 2026Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told US President Donald Trump on Thursday that his country’s rare earth reserves are open to investment from China and any other nation willing to process the minerals on Brazilian soil, resisting pressure to side with Washington in its contest with Beijing over critical mineral supply chains.“We have no preference. What we want is to share with whoever wants to invest in Brazil,” Lula said at a press conference at the Brazilian embassy in Washington after a three-hour meeting with Trump that ran more than an hour past schedule.
“Americans, Chinese, Germans, Japanese, French, whoever wants to participate with us to help us mine, separate and produce the wealth that these rare earths offer us, they are invited.”
He said his government would not repeat what happened with silver, gold and iron ore, resources that Brazil exported raw for decades without capturing the industrial value.
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