The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), which usually takes the lead on critical minerals, has now also told the Herald it is involved in the work.
General manager resource markets, Katherine MacNeill, said MBIE officials were working with their MFAT colleagues to “support discussions with the United States on a non‑binding critical minerals framework”.
The Herald understands an announcement is being worked towards for the near-future, though the Prime Minister said on Monday no decisions have been made by Cabinet.
Luxon refused to say what the benefits of such a deal could be.
“I appreciate as media you want to talk about that, and you’ve seen reporting over the weekend, but you’ve got well ahead of where Cabinet is,” Luxon said.
“All I’m saying to you is we definitely want to develop a critical mineral sector, absolutely no doubt about it. We will make sure that we do that in our own national interest as we always do.”
While the Prime Minister wasn’t willing to discuss the New Zealand-United States conversations today, one of our top diplomats is heading to Washington, DC this week to a US-led forum on critical minerals.
US Secretary of State Rubio is hosting the “inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial” summit on February 4. The US Department of State said of it: “Strengthening critical mineral supply chains with our international partners is vital to America’s economic and national security, technological leadership, and a resilient energy future.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to the Herald on Monday that New Zealand will “be represented at the senior official level”.
“The delegation will be led by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade.”
The secretary is Bede Corry, also the ministry’s chief executive. He has been in the role since July 2024 and previously served as New Zealand’s Ambassador to the United States between 2022 and 2024.
“The ministerial forum is an opportunity for New Zealand to engage with a range of countries to better understand challenges and possible solutions to address the resilience of critical minerals supply chains globally,” the ministry said.
Other countries reported to be planning to participate include the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, India, South Korea and Australia.
The potential for an agreement between the US and New Zealand was noted in a memorandum filed with the Waitangi Tribunal last week.
It raised concerns an agreement could “be finalised and signed without Māori, or anyone else in Aotearoa, being aware” and may ”breach the principles of rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga” (right to exercise authority and governorship).
The claimants asked the tribunal “to seek information urgently from the Crown to establish whether the United States Government has sought such an agreement and if so, the process for its development, the likely content, the role of Māori in that process, and the protections for Māori responsibilities, duties and interests and the Crown’s obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has been stepping up its efforts in recent months to secure critical mineral supply chains to reduce its reliance on China, the largest refiner of minerals needed for the likes of energy, defence, and security technologies.
In October last year, Australia and the United States agreed to their own “critical minerals framework”.
The Australian Government said it would “assist both countries in achieving resilience and security of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains, including mining, separation, and processing, through use of economic policy tools and coordinated investment”.
Trump in January issued a proclamation directing his team “to enter into negotiations with trading partners” over critical mineral supply chains.
That was after his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick found processed critical minerals and their derivative products (PCMDPs) to be “essential to the national security of the United States”.
“PCMDPs are indispensable to almost every industry, including national defence programmes and critical infrastructure. PCMDPs are embedded across defence and commercial supply chains and play an essential role in the production of advanced weapons systems, energy infrastructure and everyday consumer goods.”
It was also found that the “United States is too reliant on foreign sources of PCMDPs, lacks access to a sufficiently secure and reliable supply chain to PCMDPs, is experiencing unsustainable price volatility with respect to critical mineral markets, and is suffering from weakened domestic manufacturing and production capacity of PCMDPs”.
This was described as a “significant national security vulnerability”, with the US lacking “access to a sufficiently secure and reliable supply chain for PCMDPs”.
Lutnick also said that “it may be appropriate to impose import restrictions, such as tariffs, if satisfactory agreements are not reached in a timely manner”.
New Zealand last year revealed a Minerals Strategy, with the intent to double exports to $3 billion by 2035. A Critical Minerals List also highlighted 37 minerals said to be “vital to the economy and susceptible to supply chain risks”.
Access to critical minerals, which can include the likes of lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper, has become increasingly geopolitically important. Not only are they necessary for many energy technologies, but they are also used in defence and security equipment.
Last year, Beijing moved to impose export controls on some rare earth minerals, angering the US President, who threatened additional tariffs on China. The impasse was eventually broken during a face-to-face between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Apec in South Korea in October.
Jamie Ensor is the NZ Herald’s chief political reporter, based in the press gallery at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist in 2025 for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.