After a decade of waiting, the US Senate voted on 22 June to approve a tax treaty (Treaty Document 112-8) with Chile. Now the document is only missing US President Joe Biden’s signature. The tax treaty is particularly relevant to US energy security as it is “crucial for ensuring access for U.S. companies to lithium, a mineral essential for electric vehicle batteries.” Given the global race for access to critical minerals, it is unsurprising that the US Senate (finally) passed it by an overwhelming majority.

A long time coming

The treaty was originally signed in 2010 but had to be ratified by the Congress of each country. The Chilean Congress voted to approve it in 2015. The US Senate voted between four and five times without success, until this year when the Senate approved it by 95-2 votes. The Foreign Relations Committee passed it 20-1 in early June.