Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani signed a Memorandum of Understanding on critical minerals during United Nations General Assembly week on Sept. 22. The signing took place at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in New York.
The MOU signals a coordinated U.S.-Italy push to diversify critical mineral supply chains away from Chinese dominance, according to the State Department. China currently controls a dominant share of global critical mineral processing, a position both Washington and Rome have identified as a strategic vulnerability.
Critical minerals — including lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements — are essential to electric vehicles, defense systems, semiconductors and energy storage technologies. The agreement adds Italy, a key European ally, to the U.S.-led effort to build alternative supply chain partnerships.
The signing occurred on the sidelines of the 2026 UN General Assembly, giving it high diplomatic visibility among the dozens of world leaders and foreign ministers gathered in New York.
Italy’s participation is strategically significant because of its advanced manufacturing base and role as a major European Union economy. The MOU provides a framework for joint investment, technology sharing and coordinated sourcing of minerals critical to both nations’ economic and defense sectors.
The agreement comes during the same UNGA week in which Rubio held separate bilateral meetings with leaders from Bolivia — which holds some of the world’s largest lithium reserves — and other nations central to resource diplomacy.
The U.S. has designated critical minerals as a national security priority, with multiple executive actions and legislative initiatives aimed at reducing dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains. The Italy MOU adds a formal European dimension to that effort.
The State Department said the agreement reflects the administration’s broader strategy of building a coalition of allied nations to secure reliable access to the raw materials underpinning modern technology and defense systems.