The Quad’s Role Amid China-US Tech Competition

Kashish Parpiani

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In July 2025, the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting concluded with announcements on strengthening maritime and transnational security, economic security, cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, and humanitarian assistance across the Indo-Pacific region.

A significant takeaway of the convening was the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative to strengthen cooperation on securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains.

The joint statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States underscored concerns over “abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals.” They raised concerns about dependence on “any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production,” which may lead to “economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions.”

This development came amid global manufacturers raising alarms over China’s April 2025 decision to mandate licenses for export of rare earth alloys, mixtures, and magnets. China’s action followed its trade tensions with the U.S. – at the time, the Trump administration had mandated export licenses for a wider range of chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and limited China’s access to chip-designing software.

Amid China’s bilateral trade and tech tensions with the United States, its decision to restrict rare earth exports impacted global supply chains and manufacturing (unlike China’s December 2024 export ban on gallium, germanium, and antimony for the U.S. alone). In addition, the move highlighted Beijing’s willingness to leverage its dominance in production and refining of critical minerals.

Such instances of the China-U.S. tech rivalry resulting in implications for the world have raised the imperatives for deeper tech cooperation among Quad members.

The first Trump administration (2017-21) used export controls to limit the flow of tech components to China, barred the use of federal funds to purchase Chinese tech equipment, and indicted Chinese tech companies for espionage activities.