Critical Mineral Statecraft: Australia’s Political Economy of Lithium Supply-Chain Resilience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55681/ijssh.v4i3.4255Keywords:
Geoeconomics, Political Economy, Lithium, Critical Minerals, Economic Statecraft, Supply-Chain ResilienceAbstract
This study examines the political economy of Australia's lithium strategy between 2019 and 2025, asking how economic statecraft is used to reduce supply-chain vulnerability. Despite being a leading global lithium producer, Australia combines upstream strength with limited domestic processing, high exposure to Chinese refining, and sensitivity to global price volatility. Using Blackwill and Harris's (2016) geoeconomic framework, the study conducts qualitative document analysis informed by the READ approach. Seven instruments were screened against government documents, trade data, academic literature, and corporate publications; trade and investment emerged as the two most systematically evidenced in the cases examined. ECTA created preferential market access in India but did not generate a corresponding expansion of Australian processed-lithium exports. Investment policy produced differentiated outcomes: cooperation with India remained at state-facilitated screening and due diligence, whereas cooperation with South Korea developed into equity participation, long-term offtake, financing, joint ventures, and commercial production. The study conceptualizes Australia's approach as resilience-oriented geoeconomics, in which the state creates strategic options, reduces investment risk, and aligns private capital with national supply-chain objectives rather than relying primarily on coercion.
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