The UK and USA governments announced a new cooperative agreement termed the ‘Atlantic Declaration’ to improve joint efforts in defense and the secure supply of critical raw materials.  

The cooperation in sourcing critical raw materials will come under a newly negotiated Critical Minerals Agreements between the two nations, which is expected to allow tax credits similar to those from the Inflation Reduction Act legislation to purchasers of critical raw materials processed in the UK and USA. 

Providing tax credits under the Critical Minerals Agreement will further open up the US market to suppliers of critical raw materials in the UK, including lithium, nickel and rare earth metals. Simultaneously, downstream manufacturers in the UK will be able to source critical raw materials from the USA and still benefit from tax breaks selling into the US market.  

The USA has previously signed similar agreements with the EU, Australia, Canada and Japan as it looks to safeguard access to raw materials and processing capacity for a range of materials used in key energy transition technologies including Li-ion batteries, rare earth magnets and semiconductors.