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Secretary Rubio Signs a Critical Minerals MOU with Italy's Tajani in New York, Sep. 21, 2026

September 21, 2026 · U.S. Department of State · 0:03:10

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What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a Memorandum of Understanding on critical minerals with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in New York on September 21, 2026. Rubio called Italy “a great partner” on “a critical topic that we all know is being considered constantly.” Tajani, for his part, described Italy as Europe’s second industrial country and the world’s fourth in trade — his figures, as he stated them — for whom raw-material prices are central to industrial policy, and called the agreement “a key point for our strategy,” the follow-up to the Washington conference Rubio had organized, as he referenced it from the table.

Why it matters

The signing is one of a series of bilateral critical-minerals frameworks the Secretary worked through the autumn — Lithuania’s framework four days earlier is paged separately on this site — building, partner by partner, the supply-chain architecture the administration treats as both economic and national security.

Scoreboard watch

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Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio at Signing Ceremony with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tajani” (official upload, embedded above; New York City). Remarks as delivered; transcript reviewed in the site’s private research store; full transcript at state.gov.