PARIS: Group of Seven trade ministers meeting in Paris on Wednesday sought common ground on securing critical mineral supplies that are dominated by China, but fresh US tariff threats against European Union-made cars risked straining unity.

France wants critical minerals supplies to be among the most concrete deliverables during its G7 presidency as ministers prepare for a leaders’ summit in mid-June, Foreign Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier said as he arrived for talks.

“I believe we will make very concrete progress on rare earths and critical minerals, securing our supply chains and ensuring we are not held hostage by certain countries,” he said.

China’s share of the market for minerals used in everything from electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics to defence systems is so dominant that it can set prices low enough to drive rivals out, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Tuesday.

G7 countries will seek to “ensure that attempts or thre­ats to weaponise economic dependencies will fail”, the tr­­­­­­a­­­­de ministers said in a joint statement after their meeting.

Officials involved in the discussions said there was br­o­ad agreement on the need to reduce reliance on China, but significant differences remained about how to do so wi­­­­­­­th two sets of proposals from the European and US sides.

G7 unity is also being tested by comments from US President Donald Trump, who said Washington would raise tariffs on EU-made cars to 25pc from 15pc, arguing that Brussels was not complying with a trade deal that was agreed upon in Turnberry, Scotland, last year.

Forissier said Trump’s comments were “a call to keep moving forward” on the implementation of the Turnberry agreement, which he said could be achieved by summer. EU lawmakers and governments were working on Wednesday to finalise a common text on the legislation to implement the deal, though divisions over safeguards have made it more difficult to reach a swift agreement.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026