The readout refers to the bilateral “trade deal” announced by President Trump in early February 2026 after a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump said the U.S. would cut its tariffs on Indian goods to about 18% (down from much higher effective rates after prior punitive tariffs) and publicly linked the pact to India agreeing to halt purchases of Russian oil and to boost purchases of U.S. goods and energy; independent reporting and Indian officials noted key details remained vague and not fully confirmed by New Delhi.
“Critical minerals” are non‑fuel minerals the U.S. government and international agencies deem essential to the economy and national/security interests and whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption. They include lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare‑earth elements, graphite, copper and others used in batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, permanent magnets, power grids and advanced electronics—making them central to energy security and modern industry.
The “Quad” (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) is an informal strategic grouping of four democracies: the United States, Japan, India and Australia, which coordinate on security, economic and infrastructure issues in the Indo‑Pacific.
Formalizing cooperation on exploration, mining and processing typically involves negotiating memoranda of understanding, technical cooperation agreements and investment/gitarr arrangements; enabling joint ventures and public‑private partnerships; aligning regulatory standards (licensing, environmental and safety rules), data‑sharing, and export controls; and establishing timelines, financing and capacity‑building programs.
The February 3, 2026 State Department readout does not announce any specific signed agreements, timelines or implementation steps; it is a meeting readout describing discussions and commitments to expand cooperation, not a procurement of concrete accords or schedules.
U.S.–India cooperation on critical minerals could diversify and shorten supply chains for batteries, advanced materials and certain semiconductor inputs by increasing upstream supply (exploration and mining) and middle‑stream processing capacity outside single‑source countries. That would reduce concentration risk, ease bottlenecks for EV batteries, magnets and related components, and make suppliers less vulnerable to geopolitical disruption—though commercialization and scale‑up would take years and require investment and regulatory alignment.
Tommy Pigott is the Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State; in that role he regularly delivers official departmental readouts, briefings and attributable statements to the press and public on behalf of the State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs/Office of the Spokesperson.