Treasurer Jim Chalmers said at a conference in Sydney on Friday that Australia’s Treasury would work with its Foreign Investment Review Board to undertake a review of investments in sectors like lithium and rare earths. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The move echoes the Canadian government’s order earlier this month forcing  three Chinese companies to divest from Canadian lithium miners. Like Canada, Australia is a member of the global Minerals Security Partnership founded this year, and a U.S. trade partner favoured by recent American electric-vehicle manufacturing incentives that will likely discourage critical mineral companies from strengthening Chinese supply chains. Canada, the U.S. and Australia also share geological data on critical minerals. Chalmers’s speech reportedly stopped short of specifically targeting China, which has decried Canada’s recent divestment orders.