The US government has signalled its desire to lend a further $1.28 billion to ASX-listed rare earths companies in a bid to break China’s stranglehold on the metals needed for decarbonisation and defence applications.

The US Export Import Bank (US EXIM) has given early stage “letters of interest” to Meteoric Resources and Australian Strategic Materials (ASM), which suggest it may lend them money at concessional rates in future.