US and Italy sign critical minerals agreement in New York

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani signed a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals in New York on Monday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, according to the source report.

At the signing ceremony, Rubio described Italy as “a great partner” and said Washington and Rome worked closely on critical minerals, an issue he said remained under constant consideration.

Referring to Tajani, Italy’s deputy prime minister, Rubio said he had become a good friend and added that the United States wanted to continue working with Italy.

Agreement supports Italy’s industrial strategy

Tajani said the agreement was a key element of Italy’s strategy and industrial policy. He noted that Italy was Europe’s second-largest industrial country and ranked fourth globally in trade.

“The prices of our raw materials are very, very important for us,” Tajani said, stressing that Italy wanted to compete internationally and that lower raw material costs were important to achieving that goal.

“Today with the United States, we are going a leap forward, a very important one,” he added.