New Zealand’s top diplomat has “committed to explore further opportunities to expand co-operation on critical minerals” with the United States in a meeting with a senior official from US President Donald Trump’s Administration in Washington DC.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Bede Corry also affirmed alongside US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau “their shared interest in expanding the mutually beneficial trade and investment relationship” between the two countries.
The statement issued today on behalf of the New Zealand and US Governments comes less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said reporting on a potential New Zealand-US framework on critical minerals was “frothy” and “speculative”.
He made those comments despite two government ministries confirming to the Herald they were undertaking work related to a framework. The Herald understands an announcement is being worked towards for the near future, though it hasn’t been finalised.
Chlöe Swarbrick, the Green Party co-leader, said on Tuesday the Prime Minister was “either lying yesterday, or somehow unaware that his top officials have been in active meetings with the United States to progress this secret deal as he complained everyone was hyped-up on speculation”.
“We can’t just keep plundering the earth like there is no consequences. These resources run out. For sake of argument, even if we were to dig them up in the most ‘sustainable’ way, do we really want to waste these limited precious minerals powering the US war machine?”
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s office told the Herald Luxon had said on Monday that New Zealand was one of around 40 countries having conversations with the US on this.
“But as yet, there has been no Cabinet decision. However, as he also said, the Government absolutely wants a critical mineral sector.
“Today’s statement from our Foreign Affairs Secretary and the US Deputy Secretary is entirely in line with that; discussions are ongoing and we are committed to exploring further opportunities to expand co-operation on critical minerals.”
Tuesday’s joint statement said Corry and Landau “noted discussions on a US-New Zealand Critical Minerals Framework” and welcomed New Zealand’s participation in the Critical Minerals Ministerial being hosted in the US this week.
As the Herald reported yesterday, Corry is leading New Zealand’s delegation to the event, hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“The two committed to explore further opportunities to expand co-operation on critical minerals, energy, critical and emerging technologies and the digital economy to ensure economic resilience and mutual prosperity,” the joint statement said.
During their meeting, the pair also “reaffirmed the enduring partnership between the United States and New Zealand and the two countries’ shared commitment to expanding co-operation in the Indo-Pacific in support of a free, open and prosperous region”.
“The Deputy Secretary welcomed New Zealand’s recent decision to select Lockheed Martin’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopters as its preferred option to replace its maritime helicopter fleet.
“Both agreed on the importance of further investing in interoperable defence capabilities and committed to exploring new opportunities to expand security co-operation with regional allies and likeminded partners.”
The statement said they both also “underscored the shared US and New Zealand goal of working alongside Pacific Islands countries to support their resilience and prosperity”.
“Both committed to further expanding this partnership, including in infrastructure, economic investment and the maritime domain.
“Secretary Corry welcomed the Deputy Secretary’s hosting of the US-Pacific Investment Summit in Honolulu later this month, emphasising that the summit’s inclusion of all Pacific Island Forum members recognised the centrality of the forum in the region’s affairs. The two also welcomed investments by likeminded partners to support a prosperous and resilient region.”
They also discussed collaboration on space issues, Antarctica and “expressed optimism about the future of the US-New Zealand relationship and welcomed upcoming opportunities for engagement, including at ministerial level”.
The Herald reported last week that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) had confirmed New Zealand and the US are discussing a “non-binding critical minerals framework”, with officials “going through a process of analysis, targeted consultation and providing advice to relevant ministers”.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) told the Herald yesterday it is also involved in the work.
The Prime Minister yesterday 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 details of a New Zealand-US critical minerals framework aren’t clear, the US Government has been signing deals with other countries recently to secure supply chains.
That’s intended to reduce the US’ 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 co-ordinated 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”.
The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand told the Herald on Monday regarding a potential deal with the US: “We have noted the relevant reports and are currently gathering futher [sic] information.”
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.