Pakistan is courting the United States with a bold pitch that includes rare earths, bitcoin mining potential and political flattery, in a bid to avoid looming tariffs of up to 29% and secure deeper ties with Washington.
Hoping to attract foreign investment and burdened by a spiralling economic crisis, Pakistan is reviving long-standing claims about its untapped mineral wealth, estimated by officials to be worth between $8 trillion and an eye-popping $50 trillion. The country is highlighting its vast reserves of copper, gold, lithium and antimony, a metal used in batteries and flame retardants.
“Pakistan has been quite smart about getting the administration’s attention, capitalizing on its broader global interests in crypto and critical minerals and pitching its own offerings,” Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, told the Financial Times.
The rare earth play is just one part of Islamabad’s broader diplomatic campaign, which also includes offering backing for US President Donald Trump’s long-shot bid for the Nobel Peace Prize. At stake is Pakistan’s access to the US market, its largest export destination, just as new tariffs loom.
Much of the mineral focus centres on Balochistan, a resource-rich province that covers nearly 43% of Pakistan’s territory. The region is home to Barrick Mining’s (TSX:ABX)(NYSE:B) massive Reko Diq copper-gold project. It also hosts large quantities of lithium, chromite, coal and rare earths.
Chinese presence
China, Pakistan’s closest ally, has already sunk nearly $60 billion into infrastructure and mining under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), most of it concentrated in Balochistan. Chinese companies have led earlier phases of Reko Diq and other projects, but their operations have increasingly come under attack by Baloch separatist groups, who accuse foreign powers of plundering local resources.
Pakistan’s negotiators arrived in Washington on Monday for talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Pakistani officials say any agreement could include commitments to purchase US-origin cotton and soybeans, along with a “strategic and investment” partnership in the mining sector. The White House has not made any official comment. Islamabad had hoped an agreement could be reached as early as this week.
A potential deal with the US, could reshape the balance of power in the region. Washington’s involvement might offer Pakistan a counterweight to China, but it also risks provoking Beijing, which views the CPEC as a cornerstone of its Belt and Road strategy.
