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How Trump and Biden’s Focus on Minerals Became Core to U.S. Foreign Policy
特朗普和拜登对矿产的关注如何成为美国外交政策的核心
President Trump’s intense interest in Ukraine’s minerals seemed to come from out of the blue.
特朗普对乌克兰矿产的浓厚兴趣似乎来得突然。
He dispatched his Treasury secretary to Kyiv this month to negotiate with Ukraine’s leader, then began ratcheting up the pressure publicly in what appeared to critics like a Mafia don’s extortion scheme.
他本月派财政部长前往基辅与乌克兰领导人进行谈判，然后开始公开加强施压，在评论者看来，这像是黑手党老大的勒索计划。
“I want security of the rare earth,” he said.
“我要稀土安全。”他说。
But critical minerals have been on Mr. Trump’s mind since at least 2017, when he signed an executive order on them during his first term.
但至少自2017年以来，关键矿物就一直在特朗普的脑海中，当时他在第一个任期内签署了一项关于关键矿物的行政命令。
They also caught the attention of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
关键矿物也引起了乔·R. 拜登总统的注意。
And Mr. Trump’s recent comments on Ukraine’s assets were not the first time in his new term that he has mentioned taking over a country’s mineral holdings.
特朗普最近关于乌克兰矿产的言论并不是他在新任期内第一次提到接管某个国家的矿产储备。
The president has talked about acquiring minerals in Greenland and Canada.
他已经谈到过在格陵兰岛和加拿大获取矿产的问题。
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada told a group of business leaders that Mr. Trump’s focus on Canada’s minerals meant his threats to annex the country were “a real thing.”
加拿大总理贾斯汀·特鲁多对一群商界领袖表示，特朗普对加拿大矿产的关注意味着他威胁要吞并加拿大是“真的”。
Seizing mineral wealth overseas has become a core foreign policy goal of Mr. Trump’s and an impetus for his most imperialistic remarks since taking office.
在海外夺取矿产财富已成为特朗普外交政策的核心目标，也促使他上任以来发表了最有帝国主义风格的言论。
His instincts hark back to the drives of fallen empires, when resource extraction motivated rulers to expand territory.
他的这种本能可以追溯到昔日那些衰落帝国的驱动力，当时对资源的攫取促使统治者扩张领土。
On Tuesday, after nearly two weeks of difficult talks, Ukrainian and U.S. officials said they had reached agreement on a framework for sharing revenue from Ukraine’s critical minerals.
周二，经过近两周的艰难谈判，乌克兰和美国官员表示，他们已就分享乌克兰关键矿产收益的框架达成了协议。
Critical minerals are nonfuel substances that are essential for energy technologies and at high risk of supply-chain disruption, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
根据美国能源部，关键矿物是指对能源技术至关重要，且供应链中断风险高的非燃料物质。
They are found around the world and are integral to common technologies (electric car batteries) and specialized ones (missile systems).
关键矿物分布在世界各地，并且是常见技术（电动汽车的电池）和专门技术（导弹系统）不可或缺的一部分。
In 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey released a list of 50 critical minerals that ranges from aluminum to zirconium.
2022年，美国地质调查局发布了一份包含从铝到锆的50种关键矿物清单。
Because of competition with China, the search for critical minerals has been important to the United States for nearly a decade.
由于与中国的竞争，近十年来，寻找关键矿物对美国来说一直很重要。
Mr. Biden, on the final overseas trip of his presidency, visited a U.S.-supported railway in Angola that would help transport critical minerals from central Africa to the coast for export.
拜登在总统任期的最后一次海外访问中，参观了美国在安哥拉帮助建设的一条铁路，该铁路将把来自中非的关键矿产运输到海岸，进而出口。
State Department officials in his administration earlier set up a group of allied nations to discuss creating or reinforcing critical mineral supply chains outside of China.
拜登政府中的国务院官员早些时候让盟国成立了一个小组，讨论在中国以外建设或加强关键矿产供应链的问题。
And they established a sister forum so that mineral-rich countries could speak to potential client nations and foreign companies about developing mines and processing plants.
国务院官员还成立了一个姐妹论坛，以便矿产丰富的国家能够与潜在的客户国家和外国公司讨论开发矿产和建设加工厂的事宜。
