Australia’s minerals lie between economic security and liberal markets
Naoise McDonagh 24 June 2025
Australia’s rare earths are becoming a case study for whether liberal market economies can successfully implement economic security policy in our new geoeconomic world order. Canberra has taken steps to reduce exposure to the global dependence on China’s near-monopoly on these and other critical minerals. Ultimately, Naoise McDonagh of Edith Cowan University writes, industrial policy is becoming mainstream even in traditionally market-led advanced economies and policy makers have to wholly reconceptualize the way market-driven commercial ecosystems work.
Tech denial to restrict China’s access to critical technologies is likely to remain one of the key pillars of US policy regardless of who’s in the White House. But the current suite of security-focused measures will likely come up short, Horizon Advisory’s Emily de la Bruyère and Nathan Picarsic write, as they increase the payoff for circumventing the American blockade. Defenses must be coordinated across jurisdictions and the airtight execution of supply chain restrictions requires international allies.
The Trump tariff strategy report card – six months in
No period in recent history has upended international markets, supply chains, corporate investment, and labor more than the tariff policies pursued in the first six months of the second Trump administration. To take stock of the administration’s strategy, the National Press Foundation, sponsored by the Hinrich Foundation, will host a webinar featuring Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy of the Hinrich Foundation, and David Lynch, Global Economics Correspondent of The Washington Post. Register here now.
OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Raw Materials 2025
As technologies develop, geopolitical tensions flare, and demand for key materials grows, economies are increasingly regulating access to inputs critical for cutting-edge production. From 2009 to 2023, such restrictions increased fivefold, disrupting supply chains and highlighting the need for less restrictive alternatives. Explore our analysis of the latest edition of the OECD’s Inventory which examines what restrictions economies are imposing to understand where supply chain chokeholds are likely to occur and how to address rules governing them in the future.
When examining the responses of countries to “reciprocal” tariffs, regional reactions converge around three strategies: negotiation, retaliation, or a wait-and-see approach. Malaysia’s Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs assistant research manager Doris Liew analyses the region’s export profiles to explain these varying responses.
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