How Are President Trump's Deals Impacting Metals Markets?

Now, a number of agreements related to critical materials were reached during the president's trip to Asia in late October. What impact is this having on metals markets?

Yeah, this is becoming very important, and I think one of the things about President Trump's recent trip throughout Asia was the number of deals that he was able to get signed. There were some agreements reached with Malaysia and Thailand, both of which have significant critical materials resources. Those deals are aimed at making sure that those resources can actually be exported to the United States and other western countries.

Not necessarily in Asia, but also as part of that trip, President Trump visited Australia, and on the backs of that trip actually signed an 8.5 billion dollar deal with Australia, again aimed at joint ventures to increase the supply of critical materials for the United States. This is an important step.

Earlier this year, Australia actually announced that they were going to have their own critical material stockpile. We've since seen the US make a similar statement about two months ago, where they're looking to have a $1 billion critical material stockpile. So, I think what this is doing is just putting an emphasis on critical materials and how Western governments are viewing them as it relates to national security.

Also with this Australian deal, what it's going to do is establish some price floors that will help to stabilize the markets and also provide an incentive and attractant for other investment in the