Public Citizen Sues U.S. Department of State for Text of Critical Minerals Agreements
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Public Citizen sued Trump’s State Department for withholding crucial information about its critical minerals deals. Public Citizen had submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the information on June 1, 2026, which the agency has ignored.
In February 2026, the State Department released a “fact sheet” stating that 38 bilateral agreements on critical minerals had been completed or would be shortly. The Trump administration has largely kept the texts of these agreements hidden from public view, and has not even disclosed the partner country for the majority of them.
Transparency on these agreements matters, as a recent Public Citizen report explains, because they can commit U.S. taxpayer dollars, shape mining policies in foreign countries, and create long-term strategic obligations. The public currently has no reliable way to confirm which governments have signed on and what commitments were made.
“The American people deserve to know what is in the trade agreements being negotiated in our name behind closed doors,” said Melanie Foley, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch program. “The Trump administration must fulfill its obligations under FOIA and release the texts of these secret deals.”
Read the complaint here.