G20 Sounds Alarm as US-China Tech War Threatens to Fracture Global Mineral Supply

The battle lines are drawn. Not on a physical field, but within the intricate, globe-spanning supply chains that power our modern world. In a move that reads like a desperate plea for de-escalation, the Group of Twenty (G20) is calling for a ceasefire in the escalating war over critical minerals—a conflict waged not with armies, but with tariffs, export controls, and unilateral trade restrictions.

This is no abstract diplomatic maneuvering. It’s a direct, albeit unnamed, shot across the bow of the world’s two largest economies: the United States and China.

According to a draft proposal obtained by Bloomberg News, the G20 is pushing to shield the flow of these essential materials from the geopolitical chaos that threatens to engulf them. The document lays out a stark vision: “We seek to ensure that the critical minerals value chain is more resilient to disruptions, whether from geopolitical tensions, unilateral trade measures inconsistent with WTO rules, pandemics, or natural disasters.”

Let’s be clear. When a body like the G20 talks about “unilateral trade measures,” it’s pointing a finger directly at the tit-for-tat economic warfare that has defined the US-China relationship. This isn’t merely about tariffs on steel or soybeans anymore; it’s a strategic chokehold being applied to the very building blocks of the 21st-century economy, from the lithium in electric vehicle batteries to the rare earths powering wind turbines and advanced defense systems. China’s dominance in the processing of these minerals has long been a source of anxiety in Western capitals, and now that anxiety is boiling over into open economic conflict.

The G20’s proposal is more than just a call for stability; it’s an argument for a more equitable system. The draft explicitly states a goal to “enable more producing countries to participate in and benefit from” these value chains. This is a crucial nod to nations in the Global South—countries like Indonesia, Chile, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—that are rich in resources but often relegated to the lowest rungs of the value ladder, extracting raw materials while the real profits are made in processing and manufacturing elsewhere. They are caught in the crossfire, and the G20 is trying, perhaps futilely, to offer them a way out.

But can such a plea work? The specific mention of measures “inconsistent with WTO rules” feels almost nostalgic, a call back to a time when a rules-based global order was the presumed standard. Today, that order is fraying, with major powers increasingly prioritizing national security and economic self-interest over international norms. The G20’s statement is a test—a test of whether multilateralism has any teeth left, or if the world is irrevocably fracturing into competing economic blocs, with critical minerals as the primary ammunition. The stability of the green energy transition and the future of global technology hang in the balance.