(Bloomberg) -- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will visit Chile next week in a trip aimed at strengthening ties with a nation rich in critical minerals.

While in Santiago, Yellen will engage with her counterparts and the private sector “to deepen the bilateral economic relationship between the United States and Chile, with a focus on Chile’s important contribution to the green transition, including its domestic policies to incentivize renewable energy and its role as a supplier of critical minerals, ” the Treasury Department said in a statement Wednesday.

Securing critical minerals supply has been a priority for the US as it seeks to to reduce dependence on China, which dominates the value chain for many key metals, including those needed for the energy transition.

Chile’s government is looking to attract foreign capital to help it tap more of the world’s biggest lithium reserves and move further along the battery supply chain.

The country’s free-trade agreement with the US means Chile stands to benefit from President Joe Biden’s green stimulus program, with materials produced in Chile qualifying for incentives to make more electric vehicles in North America. 

Yellen will head to Santiago after attending a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in Sao Paulo early next week, the Treasury said. 

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