Trump à quelques voix d’une victoire sur sa “grande et belle loi”

Donald Trump espère remporter mercredi la première victoire législative majeure de son second mandat avec la possible adoption finale au Congrès américain de son imposant projet de loi budgétaire. Mais des dissensions au sein du camp républicain menacent de faire dérailler le processus.Après le Sénat, qui a approuvé mardi de justesse ce texte de plusieurs milliers de milliards de dollars, la Chambre des représentants doit se prononcer avec un vote potentiellement attendu dans la matinée à Washington.Cette “grande et belle loi”, comme l’a baptisée le président américain, représente la clé de voûte de son programme économique pour ce second mandat.”Les plus grands gagnants seront les Américains, qui auront de manière permanente des impôts plus bas, des salaires bruts et nets plus hauts, des frontières sécurisées, et des forces armées plus fortes et plus puissantes”, a déclaré le républicain de 79 ans mardi sur sa plateforme Truth Social.Avant d’appeler ses troupes à la mobilisation générale.”On peut avoir tout cela dès maintenant, mais seulement si les républicains à la Chambre S’UNISSENT, ignorent ceux qui font parfois les INTÉRESSANTS (vous savez qui vous êtes!), et font ce qui est juste, c’est-à-dire envoyer cette loi sur mon bureau” pour promulgation.”Restez UNIS, amusez-vous, et votez +OUI+”, a-t-il conclu.- 4-Juillet -Mais pour le moment, le soutien au texte est loin d’être unanime au sein de son camp à la chambre basse du Congrès, et plusieurs élus conservateurs ont déjà annoncé qu’il voterait contre la version révisée par le Sénat.”Il est dur pour moi d’imaginer qu’il passera en l’état. Il y a des trucs incroyablement mauvais là-dedans”, a déclaré le républicain Andy Biggs à KTAR News, une radio de son Etat, l’Arizona.Avec une majorité extrêmement fine, les responsables républicains ne peuvent se permettre qu’une poignée de défections.Le temps presse pourtant avant vendredi, jour de la fête nationale américaine, que Donald Trump a fixé comme échéance symbolique pour promulguer sa “One Big Beautiful Bill”.Dans la foulée de son adoption mardi au Sénat, le président républicain de la Chambre des représentants, Mike Johnson, s’était montré optimiste, affirmant que le projet de loi arriverait “sur le bureau du président Trump à temps” pour le 4 juillet.- “Monstruosité” -En jeu: la prolongation de colossaux crédits d’impôt adoptés lors de son premier mandat, mais aussi l’élimination de l’imposition sur les pourboires ou encore des milliards de dollars supplémentaires pour la défense et la lutte contre l’immigration.Mais experts comme politiques pointent du doigt l’explosion attendue du déficit public.Le Bureau budgétaire du Congrès, chargé d’évaluer de manière non partisane l’impact des projets de loi sur les finances publiques, estime que le texte augmenterait la dette de plus de 3.000 milliards de dollars d’ici 2034.L’extension de crédits d’impôt coûterait à elle seule 4.500 milliards. Pour la compenser en partie, les républicains prévoient notamment de sabrer dans Medicaid, programme public d’assurance santé dont dépendent des millions d’Américains aux revenus modestes.Une réduction drastique du programme Snap, principale aide alimentaire du pays, est également prévue, de même que la suppression de nombreuses incitations fiscales en faveur des énergies renouvelables adoptées sous Joe Biden.Sans surprise, les démocrates sont opposés en bloc au projet de loi.Leur chef à la Chambre des représentants, Hakeem Jeffries, l’a ainsi qualifié de “monstruosité répugnante” qui “fera souffrir les Américains ordinaires” au profit des plus riches.

Trump à quelques voix d’une victoire sur sa “grande et belle loi”

Donald Trump espère remporter mercredi la première victoire législative majeure de son second mandat avec la possible adoption finale au Congrès américain de son imposant projet de loi budgétaire. Mais des dissensions au sein du camp républicain menacent de faire dérailler le processus.Après le Sénat, qui a approuvé mardi de justesse ce texte de plusieurs milliers de milliards de dollars, la Chambre des représentants doit se prononcer avec un vote potentiellement attendu dans la matinée à Washington.Cette “grande et belle loi”, comme l’a baptisée le président américain, représente la clé de voûte de son programme économique pour ce second mandat.”Les plus grands gagnants seront les Américains, qui auront de manière permanente des impôts plus bas, des salaires bruts et nets plus hauts, des frontières sécurisées, et des forces armées plus fortes et plus puissantes”, a déclaré le républicain de 79 ans mardi sur sa plateforme Truth Social.Avant d’appeler ses troupes à la mobilisation générale.”On peut avoir tout cela dès maintenant, mais seulement si les républicains à la Chambre S’UNISSENT, ignorent ceux qui font parfois les INTÉRESSANTS (vous savez qui vous êtes!), et font ce qui est juste, c’est-à-dire envoyer cette loi sur mon bureau” pour promulgation.”Restez UNIS, amusez-vous, et votez +OUI+”, a-t-il conclu.- 4-Juillet -Mais pour le moment, le soutien au texte est loin d’être unanime au sein de son camp à la chambre basse du Congrès, et plusieurs élus conservateurs ont déjà annoncé qu’il voterait contre la version révisée par le Sénat.”Il est dur pour moi d’imaginer qu’il passera en l’état. Il y a des trucs incroyablement mauvais là-dedans”, a déclaré le républicain Andy Biggs à KTAR News, une radio de son Etat, l’Arizona.Avec une majorité extrêmement fine, les responsables républicains ne peuvent se permettre qu’une poignée de défections.Le temps presse pourtant avant vendredi, jour de la fête nationale américaine, que Donald Trump a fixé comme échéance symbolique pour promulguer sa “One Big Beautiful Bill”.Dans la foulée de son adoption mardi au Sénat, le président républicain de la Chambre des représentants, Mike Johnson, s’était montré optimiste, affirmant que le projet de loi arriverait “sur le bureau du président Trump à temps” pour le 4 juillet.- “Monstruosité” -En jeu: la prolongation de colossaux crédits d’impôt adoptés lors de son premier mandat, mais aussi l’élimination de l’imposition sur les pourboires ou encore des milliards de dollars supplémentaires pour la défense et la lutte contre l’immigration.Mais experts comme politiques pointent du doigt l’explosion attendue du déficit public.Le Bureau budgétaire du Congrès, chargé d’évaluer de manière non partisane l’impact des projets de loi sur les finances publiques, estime que le texte augmenterait la dette de plus de 3.000 milliards de dollars d’ici 2034.L’extension de crédits d’impôt coûterait à elle seule 4.500 milliards. Pour la compenser en partie, les républicains prévoient notamment de sabrer dans Medicaid, programme public d’assurance santé dont dépendent des millions d’Américains aux revenus modestes.Une réduction drastique du programme Snap, principale aide alimentaire du pays, est également prévue, de même que la suppression de nombreuses incitations fiscales en faveur des énergies renouvelables adoptées sous Joe Biden.Sans surprise, les démocrates sont opposés en bloc au projet de loi.Leur chef à la Chambre des représentants, Hakeem Jeffries, l’a ainsi qualifié de “monstruosité répugnante” qui “fera souffrir les Américains ordinaires” au profit des plus riches.

Philippines biodiversity hotspot pushes back on mining

A nickel stockpile towers over farmer Moharen Tambiling’s rice paddy in the Philippines’ Palawan, evidence of a mining boom that locals hope a new moratorium will tame.”They told us before the start of their operations that it wouldn’t affect us, but the effects are undeniable now,” Tambiling told AFP.”Pangolins, warthogs, birds are disappearing. Flowers as well.”A biodiversity hotspot, Palawan also holds vast deposits of nickel, needed for everything from stainless steel to electric vehicles.Once the world’s largest exporter of the commodity, the Philippines is now racing to catch up with Indonesia. In 2021, Manila lifted a nine-year ban on mining licences. Despite promised jobs and tax revenue, there is growing pushback against the sector in Palawan.In March, the island’s governing council unanimously passed a 50-year moratorium on any new mining permits.”Flash floods, the siltation of the sea, fisheries, mangrove areas… We are witnesses to the effects of long-term mining,” Nieves Rosento, a former local councillor who led the push, told AFP.Environmental rights lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda said the moratorium could stop nearly 70 proposed projects spanning 240,000 hectares.”You have to protect the old-growth forest, and it’s not being done,” she said.From 2001 to 2024, Palawan dubbed the country’s “last ecological frontier” — lost 219,000 hectares of tree cover, more than any other province, in part due to mining, according to Global Forest Watch.- ‘Fearsome’ flooding -In southern Palawan’s Brooke’s Point, a Chinese ship at a purpose-built pier waits for ore from the stockpile overlooking Tambiling’s farm.Mining company Ipilan says increased production will result in greater royalties for Indigenous people and higher tax revenues, but that means little to Tambiling’s sister Alayma.The single mother-of-six once made 1,000-5,000 pesos ($18-90) a day selling lobster caught where the pier now sits.”We were surprised when we saw backhoes digging up the shore,” she told AFP, calling a one-time compensation offer of 120,000 pesos ($2,150) insulting.”The livelihood of all the Indigenous peoples depended on that area.”On the farm, Tambiling stirred rice paddy mud to reveal reddish laterite he says is leaking from the ore heap and poisoning his crops.Above him, swathes of the Mantalingahan mountains have been deforested, producing floods he describes as “fearsome, deep and fast-moving.”Ipilan has faced protests and legal challenges over its logging, but its operations continue.Calls to parent company Global Ferronickel Holdings were not returned.For some in Palawan, the demand for nickel to power EVs has a certain irony.”You may be able to… eliminate pollution using electric vehicles,” said Jeminda Bartolome, an anti-mining advocate.”But you should also study what happens to the area you are mining.”- ‘First-class municipality’ -In Bataraza, the country’s oldest nickel mine is expanding, having secured permission before the moratorium.Rio Tuba employees armed with brooms, goggles, hats and scarves are barely visible through reddish dust as they sweep an access road that carries 6,000 tonnes of ore destined for China each day.Company senior vice president Jose Bayani Baylon said mining turned a barely accessible malarial swamp into a “first-class municipality”.”You have an airport, you have a port, you have a community here. You have a hospital, you have infrastructure which many other communities don’t have,” he told AFP.He dismisses environmental concerns as overblown.With part of its concession tapped out, the company is extending into an area once off-limits to logging but since rezoned.Thousands of trees have been cleared since January, according to locals, but Baylon said “under the law, for every tree you cut, you have to plant 100″.The company showed AFP a nine-hectare plot it spent 15 years restoring with native plants.But it is unclear to what degree that will be replicated. Baylon concedes some areas could become solar farms instead.- ‘Four kilos of rice’ -Nearby, Indigenous resident Kennedy Coria says mining has upset Mount Bulanjao’s ecosystem.”Honeybees disappeared where we used to find them. Fruit trees in the forest stopped bearing fruit,” the father-of-seven said.A fifth of the Philippines’ Indigenous land is covered by mining and exploration permits, according to rights group Global Witness. Legally, they have the right to refuse projects and share profits, but critics say the process is rarely clear.”There are Indigenous peoples who have not received any royalties for the past 10 years,” said Rosento.Coria, who can neither read nor write, said he must sign a document each year when accepting what he is told is his share of Rio Tuba profits.”We get about four kilos of rice from the community leader, who tells us it came from the company,” he said.Rio Tuba said funds are distributed in coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), which is meant to represent the communities.But some say it acts in the interests of miners, attempting to persuade locals to accept concessions and the terms offered by companies.The NCIP referred questions to multiple regional offices, none of which replied. The government’s industry regulator declined interview requests. While Palawan’s moratorium will not stop Rio Tuba’s expansion or Ipilan’s operations, supporters believe it will slow further mining.Ryan Maminta, a councillor who backed the moratorium said it already halted one expansion.There are looming legal challenges, however.A recent Supreme Court decision struck down a mining ban in Occidental Mindoro province.Backers remain confident though, and Rosento said the council would stand firm.”Responsible mining is just a catchphrase,” she said.

Philippines biodiversity hotspot pushes back on mining

A nickel stockpile towers over farmer Moharen Tambiling’s rice paddy in the Philippines’ Palawan, evidence of a mining boom that locals hope a new moratorium will tame.”They told us before the start of their operations that it wouldn’t affect us, but the effects are undeniable now,” Tambiling told AFP.”Pangolins, warthogs, birds are disappearing. Flowers as well.”A biodiversity hotspot, Palawan also holds vast deposits of nickel, needed for everything from stainless steel to electric vehicles.Once the world’s largest exporter of the commodity, the Philippines is now racing to catch up with Indonesia. In 2021, Manila lifted a nine-year ban on mining licences. Despite promised jobs and tax revenue, there is growing pushback against the sector in Palawan.In March, the island’s governing council unanimously passed a 50-year moratorium on any new mining permits.”Flash floods, the siltation of the sea, fisheries, mangrove areas… We are witnesses to the effects of long-term mining,” Nieves Rosento, a former local councillor who led the push, told AFP.Environmental rights lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda said the moratorium could stop nearly 70 proposed projects spanning 240,000 hectares.”You have to protect the old-growth forest, and it’s not being done,” she said.From 2001 to 2024, Palawan dubbed the country’s “last ecological frontier” — lost 219,000 hectares of tree cover, more than any other province, in part due to mining, according to Global Forest Watch.- ‘Fearsome’ flooding -In southern Palawan’s Brooke’s Point, a Chinese ship at a purpose-built pier waits for ore from the stockpile overlooking Tambiling’s farm.Mining company Ipilan says increased production will result in greater royalties for Indigenous people and higher tax revenues, but that means little to Tambiling’s sister Alayma.The single mother-of-six once made 1,000-5,000 pesos ($18-90) a day selling lobster caught where the pier now sits.”We were surprised when we saw backhoes digging up the shore,” she told AFP, calling a one-time compensation offer of 120,000 pesos ($2,150) insulting.”The livelihood of all the Indigenous peoples depended on that area.”On the farm, Tambiling stirred rice paddy mud to reveal reddish laterite he says is leaking from the ore heap and poisoning his crops.Above him, swathes of the Mantalingahan mountains have been deforested, producing floods he describes as “fearsome, deep and fast-moving.”Ipilan has faced protests and legal challenges over its logging, but its operations continue.Calls to parent company Global Ferronickel Holdings were not returned.For some in Palawan, the demand for nickel to power EVs has a certain irony.”You may be able to… eliminate pollution using electric vehicles,” said Jeminda Bartolome, an anti-mining advocate.”But you should also study what happens to the area you are mining.”- ‘First-class municipality’ -In Bataraza, the country’s oldest nickel mine is expanding, having secured permission before the moratorium.Rio Tuba employees armed with brooms, goggles, hats and scarves are barely visible through reddish dust as they sweep an access road that carries 6,000 tonnes of ore destined for China each day.Company senior vice president Jose Bayani Baylon said mining turned a barely accessible malarial swamp into a “first-class municipality”.”You have an airport, you have a port, you have a community here. You have a hospital, you have infrastructure which many other communities don’t have,” he told AFP.He dismisses environmental concerns as overblown.With part of its concession tapped out, the company is extending into an area once off-limits to logging but since rezoned.Thousands of trees have been cleared since January, according to locals, but Baylon said “under the law, for every tree you cut, you have to plant 100″.The company showed AFP a nine-hectare plot it spent 15 years restoring with native plants.But it is unclear to what degree that will be replicated. Baylon concedes some areas could become solar farms instead.- ‘Four kilos of rice’ -Nearby, Indigenous resident Kennedy Coria says mining has upset Mount Bulanjao’s ecosystem.”Honeybees disappeared where we used to find them. Fruit trees in the forest stopped bearing fruit,” the father-of-seven said.A fifth of the Philippines’ Indigenous land is covered by mining and exploration permits, according to rights group Global Witness. Legally, they have the right to refuse projects and share profits, but critics say the process is rarely clear.”There are Indigenous peoples who have not received any royalties for the past 10 years,” said Rosento.Coria, who can neither read nor write, said he must sign a document each year when accepting what he is told is his share of Rio Tuba profits.”We get about four kilos of rice from the community leader, who tells us it came from the company,” he said.Rio Tuba said funds are distributed in coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), which is meant to represent the communities.But some say it acts in the interests of miners, attempting to persuade locals to accept concessions and the terms offered by companies.The NCIP referred questions to multiple regional offices, none of which replied. The government’s industry regulator declined interview requests. While Palawan’s moratorium will not stop Rio Tuba’s expansion or Ipilan’s operations, supporters believe it will slow further mining.Ryan Maminta, a councillor who backed the moratorium said it already halted one expansion.There are looming legal challenges, however.A recent Supreme Court decision struck down a mining ban in Occidental Mindoro province.Backers remain confident though, and Rosento said the council would stand firm.”Responsible mining is just a catchphrase,” she said.

The Shinawatras: Thailand’s 21st century political clan

Thailand’s billionaire Shinawatra dynasty has dominated the kingdom’s politics for 25 years, but its rule has been hit by coups and court cases including this week’s suspension of the prime minister.Thaksin Shinawatra amassed a telecoms fortune before driving the family’s entry into politics, elected to power in 2001 and again in 2005 — when he led the first Thai party ever to secure an overall majority alone.His populist policies won the devotion of rural voters but the ire of the pro-monarchy, pro-military establishment who regarded him as an insurgent threat to the traditional social order.The patriarch was ousted in a 2006 coup, but Thai politics has remained dominated by jousting between his Shinawatra clan successors and Bangkok’s tradition-orientated elite.Thaksin’s sister Yingluck became prime minister in 2011, regarded by many as his stooge, before she was likewise forced out by the military.- Founding father – Thaksin served as a police officer before making his fortune and launching his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, promising to use his business savvy to uplift rural areas.He became the first Thai premier to serve a full term after his 2001 victory, and was re-elected in a landslide by villagers grateful for cash injections amid the Asian financial crisis.But Thaksin was dogged by corruption allegations and months of protests. While he was on an overseas trip in September 2006 tanks rolled into Bangkok and the military toppled his government.Despite his Thai assets being frozen the following year, he purchased Manchester City and later sold the British football club for a sizeable profit.Thaksin took himself into exile in 2008 but never stopped commenting on national affairs — or, according to his critics, meddling in them.- A family affair -Thai Rak Thai was dissolved after the coup ousting Thaksin, but its successor People’s Power party won the next election, and in 2008 Thaksin’s brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat was briefly prime minister before the courts ordered it dismantled too.It evolved into the Pheu Thai (For Thais) party, which brought Thaksin’s sister Yingluck to power in 2011.Yingluck was pilloried as a political lightweight armed with little more than a winning smile and a hotline to her elder brother — who once referred to her as his “clone”.She reached out to the military which had ousted her brother, but their shaky truce collapsed after a failed bid to pass an amnesty bill which would have enabled Thaksin’s return.The move outraged government opponents who flooded the streets for months-long protests marked by violence, with dozens killed and hundreds wounded.Yingluck’s premiership was scuttled in 2014 by a court ruling and weeks later the military shunted aside the rest of her administration.- Inheriting influence -Thaksin subsequently threw his weight behind his youngest child Paetongtarn Shinawatra as she took up the Pheu Thai mantle, transferring from a career in the hotel arm of the family’s business empire.She was pregnant during the 2023 election campaign but was a near-constant presence, regularly leading rallies in stifling tropical heat.Pheu Thai finished second, but secured power by forming an unsteady alliance with their former enemies in pro-military parties, and Paetongtarn was appointed prime minister last August.Much like Yingluck, the 38-year-old Paetongtarn has been accused of being a puppet of Thaksin.The Constitutional Court suspended her from office on Tuesday while it probes her actions during a diplomatic spat with Cambodia.- Return to division -While in exile in Dubai, Thaksin pledged repeatedly to return to Thailand despite being convicted on graft and abuse-of-power charges in his absence.He went back on the day Pheu Thai took power, prompting speculation he had been granted leniency as part of the coalition bargain.He was immediately arrested and sentenced to eight years in jail, but was whisked to a police hospital within hours on health grounds. Thaksin was later pardoned by the king without spending any time in prison. He went on trial Tuesday for royal defamation, with a 15-year sentence possible if convicted.The clan’s future is now increasingly murky, said Thai political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak.”The Shinawatra family has been systematically weakened to the point that its mass appeal in Thai politics has worn off.”

Deal or no deal: What happens with Trump’s July tariff deadline?

A week before US President Donald Trump reimposes steep tariffs on dozens of economies, including the EU and Japan, many are still scrambling to reach a deal that would protect them from the worst.The tariffs taking effect July 9 are part of a package Trump imposed in April citing a lack of “reciprocity” in trading ties.He slapped a 10 percent levy on most partners, with higher customized rates to kick in later in countries the United States has major trade deficits with.But these were halted until July to allow room for negotiations.Analysts expect countries will encounter one of three outcomes: They could reach a framework for an agreement; receive an extended pause on higher tariffs; or see levies surge.- ‘Framework’ deals -“There will be a group of deals that we will land before July 9,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last Friday on CNBC.Policymakers have not named countries in this group, although Bessent maintains that Washington has been focused on striking deals with about 18 key partners.”Vietnam, India and Taiwan remain promising candidates for a deal,” Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) vice president Wendy Cutler told AFP.Without a deal, Vietnam’s “reciprocal tariff” rises from the baseline of 10 percent to 46 percent, India’s to 26 percent and Taiwan’s to 32 percent.Josh Lipsky, international economics chair at the Atlantic Council, cited Indian negotiators’ extension of their US trip recently in noting that it “seems like a frontrunner.””Japan was in that category, but things have set back a little,” Lipsky said, referring to Trump’s criticism Monday over what the president called Japan’s reluctance to accept US rice exports.The deals, however, will unlikely be full-fledged trade pacts, analysts said, citing complexities in negotiating such agreements.Since April, Washington has only announced a pact with Britain and a deal to temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties with China.- Extended pause -Bessent has also said that countries “negotiating in good faith” can have their tariffs remain at the 10 percent baseline.But extensions of the pause on higher rates would depend on Trump, he added.”With a new government, (South) Korea looks well positioned to secure an extension,” Cutler of ASPI said.Lipsky expects many countries to fall into this bucket, receiving an extended halt on higher tariffs that could last until Labor Day, which falls on September 1.Bessent earlier said that Washington could wrap up its agenda for trade deals by Labor Day, a signal that more agreements could be concluded but with talks likely to extend past July.- Tariff reimposition -For countries that the United States finds “recalcitrant,” however, tariffs could spring back to the higher levels Trump previously announced, Bessent has warned.These range from 11 percent to 50 percent.Cutler warned that “Japan’s refusal to open its rice market, coupled with the US resistance to lowering automotive tariffs, may lead to the reimposition of Japan’s 24 percent reciprocal tariff.”Trump himself said Tuesday that a trade deal was unlikely with Japan and the country could pay a tariff of “30 percent, 35 percent, or whatever the number is that we determine.”Lipsky believes the European Union is at risk of having tariffs snap back to steeper levels too — to the 20 percent unveiled in April or the 50 percent Trump more recently threatened.An area of tension could be Europe’s approach to digital regulation.Trump recently said he would terminate trade talks with Canada — which is not impacted by the July 9 deadline — in retaliation for the country’s digital services tax, which Ottawa eventually said it would rescind.This week, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic is in Washington in a push to seal a trade deal, with the EU commission having received early drafts of proposals that officials are working on.

US, Japan, India, Australia pledge mineral cooperation on China jitters

The United States, Japan, India and Australia pledged Tuesday to work together to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals, as worries grow over China’s dominance in resources vital to new technologies.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed his counterparts from the so-called “Quad” to Washington in a shift of focus to Asia, after spending much of his first six months on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and on President Donald Trump’s domestic priorities such as migration.The four countries said in a joint statement that they were establishing the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, aimed at “collaborating on securing and diversifying” supply chains.They offered little detail but made clear the goal was to reduce reliance on China, which has used restrictions as leverage as the United States in turn curbs its access to semiconductors and as Trump threatens steep tariffs — including on Quad countries.”Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation and supply chain disruptions,” the statement said.The ministers were careful not to mention China by name but voiced “serious concerns regarding dangerous and provocative actions” in the South China Sea and East China Sea that “threaten peace and stability in the region.”China holds major reserves of several key minerals including the vast majority of the world’s graphite, which is crucial for electric vehicles.In brief remarks alongside the other ministers, Rubio said he has “personally been very focused” on diversifying supply chains and wanted “real progress.”- US refocus on Asia -The four-way partnership was first conceived by late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who saw an alliance of democracies surrounding China — which has repeatedly alleged that the Quad is a way to contain it.Rubio had welcomed the Quad foreign ministers on January 21 in his first meeting after Trump’s inauguration, seen as a sign the new administration would prioritize engagement with like-minded countries to counter China.But to the surprise of many, China has not topped the early agenda of Trump, who has spoken respectfully about his counterpart Xi Jinping and reached a truce with Beijing to avoid a wider trade war between the world’s two largest economies.Trump is expected to travel to India later this year for a Quad summit. Both the Indian and Japanese foreign ministers said that they wanted the Quad to focus on a “free and open Indo-Pacific” — a phrasing that is a veiled allusion to opposing Chinese dominance in Asia.”It is essential that nations of the Indo-Pacific have the freedom of choice, so essential to make right decisions on development and security,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.At Jaishankar’s urging, the Quad condemned a May attack on the Indian side of Kashmir that killed mostly Hindu civilians and called for “the perpetrators, organizers and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay.”India in May launched air strikes in Pakistan, which it blamed for the attack. Pakistan denied responsibility and responded with its own attacks on the Indian military.In a key concern for Japan, the Quad condemned North Korea for its “destabilizing launches” of missiles and insisted on its “complete denuclearization.”Trump, in one of the most startling moves of his first term, met with North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong Un, helping ease tensions but producing no lasting agreement.Despite common ground on China, Quad members have differed on other hotspots, with the joint statement not mentioning Ukraine or Iran.India has maintained its long relationship with Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine, while both India and Japan also have historically enjoyed cordial ties with Iran.