The United States remains a global superpower in economic and military power. However, it has been losing ground to China in the critical minerals sector for years. Critical minerals are rare earth elements (REEs) and substances essential for manufacturing technological equipment such as semiconductors, EV batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. Sought-after critical minerals include lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper. These mineral reserves are not in shortage, rather, mining and production abilities have not evolved at the pace of demand.

While Africa has historically stood as a key source of critical minerals, Latin America has gained leverage in the critical minerals market as importers seek to diversify critical mineral suppliers. The Lithium Triangle alone, which encompasses Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina, contains more than half of the world’s reserves of lithium, more than a third of its copper, and nearly one-fifth of nickel and rare-earth metals alongside smaller reserves of cobalt, titanium, zinc, and REEs.

Although Latin America’s reserves are abundant, its production capabilities are limited due to a lack of infrastructure and domestic investments in mining and supply chains. Protests over poor working conditions and environmental damages from mining expansions have taken place, which has built up opposition to foreign offshore investments. 

Both China and the United States have demonstrated interest in Latin America’s resources, with China surpassing the U.S. as the region’s top trade partner as of 2025. With both countries searching for more sources of critical minerals, can their ambitions coexist in Latin America, or could the competition worsen tariff wars? With China already having an established presence in the region, can the United States successfully “catch up” or is it too late?

China is the world’s largest importer and exporter of critical minerals and dominates global refining processes. It accounts for 70% of global extraction and over 85% of processing capacity. In its expansion to the Western Hemisphere, China has heavily invested in Latin America to acquire critical minerals for its military, EV, and renewable energy industries. For decades, it has established free trade agreements (FTAs) with various Latin American countries, primarily Venezuela and Chile. Since 2017, it has invested billions of dollars in long-term major mining projects in Argentina and Peru through companies such as Tianqi Lithium and Zijin Mining Group. Additionally, China has been actively buying shares in local Latin American mining firms, such as Chile’s Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM), and has whole mines in Brazil and Peru. Consequently, Latin America’s geopolitical position has been limited to exporting raw materials and selling companies and mines to Chinese companies.

With China’s reach expanding over the region’s top mines and companies, there are growing fears of Latin American mines and companies being bought out and plagued by poor working conditions, as is the case in Africa. These fears are already materializing, as the Chinese-owned Peruvian copper mine Las Bambas was temporarily shut down in 2022 due to local protests.

The United States is among the top five world critical mineral importers, according to the World Trade Organization in 2022. Despite having considerable domestic reserves of magnesium and zinc, the United States relies on foreign imports for over 80% of its critical mineral needs, with China being its main exporter. Despite being key trade partners, U.S.-China trade relations have been tense over the years. This has culminated in China’s recent tariffs and bans on critical mineral and rare earth elements to the United States, to which the U.S. responded with tariffs on Chinese imports. Expanding into Latin America could help the United States decrease U.S. reliance on China for critical minerals while solidifying its influence in the Americas region.

The United States’ efforts and investments in Latin American critical minerals have been insufficient. The 2023 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the most significant effort, which established a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Chile with tax subsidies to Americans who buy EVs made with Chilean lithium. 

Instead of buying out mines and companies without regard for work conditions and local protests as China has done, the United States must take a relationship-focused rather than a colonial exploration-focused approach to Latin America. With its vast industrial capabilities, the U.S. could establish professional training, technology, and infrastructure exchange to build up struggling local supply chains, thus keeping profit and jobs locally. To complement its investment, the U.S. should negotiate Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) through the IRA similar to Chile’s with Brazil and Argentina, for example, focused on critical mineral security.

The United States cannot fully avoid or run away from China in Latin America. It must recover its regional leverage by fostering relationships rather than neo-colonial exploration to maintain critical mineral security before it is too late.

From salads to sushi, tuna is the second most popular seafood product in the United States, with the market size reaching around $3 billion in 2023.

But why? The 1900s were a time of huge conflict for the entire world. As a direct result of this conflict, immigration policies changed rapidly, reflecting the US’s allies and adversaries. Some notable events include American responses to Pearl Harbor in 1941 and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order relocating over 100,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps.

The internment order had a major impact on the American attitude toward East Asians. The idea that “Japan is the enemy” permeated the United States. This belief can be traced through almost everything from this time period—from racist imitations of East Asians in media to government actions against those of Asian descent. In 1948, Truman issued reparations for Japanese populations affected by internment. Four years later, Japanese immigration was made legal again with the withdrawal of the 1924 Immigration Act.

Though American attitudes towards East Asians remained mostly negative for decades after, the development of Asian enclaves– such as Chinatown and Japantown– embodied the increase in immigration amidst the cultural tensions. These ethnic pockets would remain a safe haven for immigrant populations and foster cross-cultural interactions. Restaurants in these areas began to attract patrons in surrounding areas, thus spreading their distinct flavors. Through this culinary exchange, tuna—one of the primary fish in Japanese cuisine—made its way onto the American plate.

The growth of East Asian communities in the United States facilitated the spread of tuna-based dishes into mainstream American sensibilities. In 1989, the available amount of canned tuna rose to almost four pounds per person due to growing consumer demand.

Ecological surveys show that the rapidly increasing demand for Atlantic bluefin tuna is met with a race to meet it, directly resulting in the overfishing and overextension of existing fisheries. In order to maximize their profits and supply, fisheries have developed techniques to harvest as much meat as possible while keeping costs low. One of these techniques is “purse-seine,” which uses nets to trap lage schools of bluefin tuna. The technique often ends up catching and killing dolphins and other sea animals by accident. These nets primarily target juvenile bluefins so that they can be raised, bred, and harvested in a commercial setting more efficiently. Despite being profitable, this practice applies ecological pressure to the tuna’s environment. As younger tuna are taken away from their habitats in vast amounts, there is an overall decline in tuna populations. 

As a major predator within their environment, the bluefin tuna’s absence has major consequences on all other species. Besides these environmental impacts, there are also social and cultural impacts. Many East Asian states, especially island nations, rely heavily on seafood products as a key part of their diet and as valuable export goods. However, the sharp increase in global tuna demand has caused suppliers, especially small-scale fishers, to struggle to have competitive supplies. As larger distributors employ unsafe methods and are able to buy out local fisheries, the space in the market for small businesses vanishes. Even in Japan, where fisheries are a major part of the economy, locals’ ability to independently meet their seafood needs is waning. Although overfishing and increased consumption will be hard to reverse, there have been some initiatives such as the United Nations’ strides to reduce the stress on fisheries.

Humanity’s relationship with the ocean has been complicated and unhealthy—we rely heavily on its resources but are unable to maintain safe and sustainable practices in acquiring such resources. 
Tuna is just one very narrow example of this issue. Many well-known historical events have played important and unexpected roles in spurring cultural change: the tragedy of 9/11 on the development of popular book and movie series Twilight, World War II and its effect on box cake mix. Global policies and culture are intrinsically interlinked with the physical world around us. Every step we take and every political action has a massive impact on the legacy that we leave future generations. It’s essential to recognize that all issues, at their core, will intersect in some way. Of course, it is impossible to find a “one size fits all” solution, but understanding that every action we take will have a different, reciprocating response is essential as we move forward. These butterfly effects are everywhere.