The Trump administration is weighing massive cuts to HIV aid in Zambia unless the southern African nation grants the U.S. greater access to its critical minerals. A draft State Department memo obtained by The New York Times outlines plans to leverage $6 billion in PEPFAR assistance as pressure on Lusaka to sign a comprehensive deal.

Zambia, one of the world's top copper producers with vast lithium and cobalt reserves, has long relied on U.S. health aid to treat 1.3 million people with HIV. The proposed agreement would tie $1 billion in health funding over five years to $340 million in new Zambian health spending and regulatory reforms in mining. The U.S. is frustrated by what it sees as China's preferential access to Zambian mines.

The memo suggests cutting aid as early as May if Zambia doesn't comply, warning that other aid-dependent nations are watching. This hardline approach follows the administration's suspension of health funding talks in December and cancellation of a $200 million debt relief deal. With corruption high and American companies largely absent from Zambia's mining sector, the U.S. aims to reshape the country's economic governance through this three-pronged agreement.