US President Donald Trump unveiled Project Vault, a $12 billion public-private initiative to buy and store critical minerals and rare earth elements as a strategic reserve. Funding includes $1.67 billion from private sources and up to $10 billion from the US Export-Import Bank. It targets cobalt, lithium, gallium and rare earths used in batteries, semiconductors, defence electronics and jet engines, with the goal of cutting American dependence on Chinese supply chains.