Economic Impacts of Expanded Investment in Brazil’s Critical Minerals and Rare Earth Elements Value Chain

The global energy transition is redefining the strategic role of critical minerals and rare earth elements in the global economy. Technologies such as high-capacity batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and advanced energy storage systems increasingly depend on secure, resilient supply chains for minerals such as copper, graphite, lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements.

Brazil holds significant competitive advantages and boasts some of the world's largest and highest-quality reserves of these critical resources. However, it currently participates in global value chains primarily as an upstream supplier of raw materials, with limited domestic processing, industrial vertical integration, and value addition. There is a substantial opportunity to unlock mutual economic growth through greater integration.

In this context, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with AmCham Brazil, has conducted a comprehensive study on the economic impacts of expanding private sector investment in Brazil's critical minerals and rare earth elements value chains between 2026 and 2050. This study assesses not only the effects of increasing raw mineral production but, crucially, the compounding economic multiplier effects associated with domestic processing, advanced manufacturing, and strategic partnerships with U.S. and foreign capital.