US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau underscored cooperation and economic integration between their countries and bolstered commitments to strengthen critical minerals supply chains in a series of meetings and speeches during Biden's first official visit to Canada as president on March 23–24.

The two leaders reaffirmed their desire to develop critical minerals production capacities on both sides of the border. They also highlighted investments from the US Defense Production Act and Canada's Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund and Strategic Innovation Fund that will go toward bolstering North American critical minerals production.

"Our nations are blessed with incredible natural resources," said Biden. "I believe we have an incredible opportunity to work together so Canada and the United States can source and supply here in North America everything we need for reliable and resilient supply chains."

The two countries announced they would launch a one-year Energy Transformation Task Force, chaired by one representative from the White House and Canada's deputy prime minister. The task force will "accelerate cooperation on critical clean energy opportunities and supply chains" covering renewable energy and electric vehicles, as well as the critical minerals needed to build them, according to a joint statement released by the White House press office.

Working together on supply chains will help counter threats to national security and the energy transition, said Trudeau.

"Economic policy is climate policy is security policy," Trudeau said in a speech to the Canadian Parliament. "With growing competition, including from an increasingly assertive China, there's no doubt why it matters that we turn to each other now to build up a North American market on everything from semiconductors to solar panel batteries."

The US and Canada will also collaborate on reducing the climate impact of steelmaking and aluminum production, according to the statement.

Budget on the horizon

Biden's visit comes ahead of Canada's federal budget announcement, scheduled for March 28. The budget is expected to outline further critical minerals policy, in part as a response to the US Inflation Reduction Act. Trudeau acknowledged tensions over the Inflation Reduction Act at a joint press conference with Biden, saying Canada needed to stay competitive.

"We'll have more to say about that in our budget," Trudeau said.

But Trudeau otherwise emphasized opportunities that will come from the Inflation Reduction Act for both Canada and the US.

In December 2022, Canada announced a C$3.8 billion critical minerals strategy as it looks to expand mining of metals used in EV batteries, like lithium.

While there are tensions over green industrial policies, the US and Canada have also sought deep cooperation on energy transition supply chains, including critical minerals. In 2020, the two countries launched a joint action plan on critical minerals, and Canada was among US trading partners that qualified as a battery metals supplier for EVs eligible for consumer tax credits under new Inflation Reduction Act metal content rules.

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