France and Japan agreed in April 2026 to strengthen support for rare-earth element (REE) supply chains as the nations move to lessen dependence on China, the world’s dominant supplier.
REEs are essential for producing components used in smartphones, electric vehicles (EV), weapons systems and other technologies.
“We cannot rely solely on specific countries, especially China,” French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said, according to NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster.
Beijing controls much of the global supply of REEs, including through low labor costs and weak environmental constraints, as well as by passing along expenses to local governments, The Diplomat magazine reported. During French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day trip to Tokyo in March and April 2026 for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, officials signed a plan to cooperate on critical minerals supply chains, NHK reported.
The nations also agreed to secure raw materials for an REE refining project in southern France, called Caremag, the broadcaster said. The state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security and gas firm Iwatani, along with the French government, are investors in Caremag, which is due to start operating in late 2026.
Japan plans to get about 20% of its dysprosium and terbium from the refining plant. Those heavy rare-earth oxides are used in magnets for EV motors, wind turbines and electronic components.
The arrangement comes at a critical moment, with the United States and its Allies and Partners seeking to secure REE supplies to reduce dependence on China, which often wields its control as a geopolitical weapon.
In February 2026, China prohibited exports of dual-use items to 20 Japanese entities, which it said supply Japan’s defense forces. That came months after Takaichi said a Chinese Communist Party blockade of Taiwan could pose an “existential crisis” for Japan. Beijing claims the self-governed island of Taiwan as its territory and threatens to annex it by force.
Beijing’s prohibitions cover seven rare earths and associated materials on China’s dual-use control list, including dysprosium.
Tokyo has reduced its reliance on China to 60% from 90% since Beijing restricted REE exports to Japan in 2010. Japan has boosted investment in overseas REE projects and promoted rare earths recycling and manufacturing.
For instance, Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials recently agreed to acquire a stake in ReElement, a U.S.-based company involved in REE recycling, as Tokyo and Washington have established a plan for non-China supplies.
The longtime allies also are considering developing REE-rich mud deposits near Japan’s remote Minamitori Island. New Delhi and Tokyo, meanwhile, are discussing REE exploration in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan.