Champagne in U.S. to talk unblocking supply chain, and push rare-earth minerals

OTTAWA -

Federal cabinet minister Francois-Philippe Champagne starts two days of meetings in Washington today with the goal of unblocking North America's supply chain.

Champagne is the federal innovation, science and industry minister, a portfolio he describes as being at the core of building back Canada's post-COVID-19 pandemic economy.

Champagne says he will be pushing Canada's largely untapped rare-earth mining sector, which would allow the U.S. to be less reliant on China, the world's leading supplier of those minerals.

The pandemic-induced bottlenecks have created shortages of semiconductors and rare-earth minerals needed to power everything from computers and cellphones to electric vehicles.

Champagne's visit followed the talks that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden and others held at last week's G20 summit in Rome on easing the supply chain crunch that has clogged U.S. ports.

Champagne says a "regional" supply chain focus is required to make the North American continent more self-reliant and less vulnerable to offshore forces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2021.