EU plans to stockpile critical minerals amid US-China tension, FT says

The European Union plans to set up a central authority to coordinate buying and stockpiling of critical minerals to keep the U.S. from securing supplies "under our noses," industry chief Stéphane Séjourné said on Wednesday.

In an interview, Séjourné told the Financial Times newspaper that the EU had become "collateral damage" in a U.S.-China dispute over rare earths, which are vital for defence and clean technologies.