BRUSSELS—The United States is far outspending Europe in the global hunt for critical minerals outside China, creating concerns among European industry officials that the Trump administration’s efforts to secure supplies will leave European allies dependent on Beijing, according to industry officials and analysts.

The U.S. allocated roughly $46 billion for critical raw-material projects over five years—about eight times the amount committed by the European Union in the same period, according to an analysis by the French Institute of International Relations. The spending disparity, reported by The Wall Street Journal, has created a dynamic in which American companies are acquiring producers, securing supply deals and winning financing terms that European buyers cannot match.

“The U.S. is much, much further ahead in creating a non-China supply chain,” said Andrea Paolo Lai, president of global operations at Swiss high-tech company Oerlikon, which has customers in the aerospace, energy and defense industries.

Western governments are seeking alternatives to China, which controls more than 90% of global critical mineral processing and magnet production. The efforts intensified after Beijing restricted rare-earth magnet supplies as part of a trade war with the U.S. last year. The Pentagon has ordered contractors to remove Chinese rare earths from defense supply chains by 2027.

The U.S. approach is “multipronged and speculative,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Washington has negotiated preferential access to minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s top cobalt producer, and in Ukraine, which is an aspiring EU member. The U.S. Export-Import Bank offers financing for critical-materials projects in which foreign entities supply American companies.

Pensana, a U.K.-based mining company with operations in Angola, scrapped plans for a British processing plant last year to pursue a U.S.-based option. The company is currently negotiating for up to $160 million in debt financing backed by the Export-Import Bank, which is conditional on it selling rare-earth products directly into the U.S., according to company chairman Paul Atherley.

“This is almost friendly fire to other Western countries,” Atherley said.

The U.S. spending advantage is also evident on the spot market. American customers act faster and are willing to pay more to secure critical materials, said Tim Borgschulte, head of finance at Berlin-based commodities trading house Noble Elements.

MSI previously reported that USA Rare Earth announced plans to invest more than $200 million in France to expand metal, alloy and magnet production—a deal that underscores Washington’s push to build Western processing capacity but that European officials said could still leave the continent dependent on American-controlled supply chains.

The EU’s industry commissioner learned that the U.S. had secured a deal for rare earths in Brazil three days before he was due to travel there, he told a Dutch newspaper last year. “We were told that the Americans had stopped by, put money on the table, and bought up all production until 2030,” he said.

Brazil-based rare-earth miner and processor Serra Verde Group said earlier this year that it had secured a $565 million financing package from a U.S. government agency. The company later disclosed that it had entered a 15-year deal to sell its magnetic rare earths to a special-purpose vehicle, capitalized in part by the U.S. government. USA Rare Earth is now acquiring Serra Verde, having bought U.K.-based rare-earth specialist Less Common Metals last year.

“The U.S. can be a partner in developing alternative sources, but it can also be a competitor,” said Camille Grand, secretary-general of the Aerospace, Security and Defense Industries Association of Europe. He said he does not think the U.S. would deliberately hold back materials from an ally, but added that if supplies run low, Americans would likely focus on their own needs first.

Europe has taken steps to secure critical materials of its own. The bloc is planning a €3 billion ($3.43 billion) financing hub to support alternative supplies. A group of EU countries is working on a pilot project to stockpile critical materials, and the bloc has raw-materials partnerships with more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Argentina, Norway and South Africa.

A European Commission spokeswoman said the EU is confident its approach will yield results. By 2030, the bloc wants to increase domestic production and ensure that no single country supplies more than 65% of the EU’s annual strategic raw material needs.

The U.S. says it wants to work with allies to counter China’s dominance. Expanding the global pool of non-Chinese raw materials stands to benefit the EU as well as the U.S., officials from both economies said. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on critical raw materials in April, and European officials expressed hope that such cooperation can be a bright spot in an otherwise strained trans-Atlantic relationship. But some said they are wary of relying too heavily on a partner that has imposed punitive tariffs and threatened to seize Greenland, in the officials’ view undermining trust.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from The Wall Street Journal.

Bernd Schäfer, chief executive of EU-funded EIT RawMaterials, said the Europeans should take a page from the U.S.’s more decisive approach.

“While we’re talking,” Schäfer said, “the next value chain is bought by the Americans.”

Even some U.S.-backed acquisitions appear to benefit Europe. Germany’s Vacuumschmelze, which makes rare-earth permanent magnets and is currently owned by a U.S. private equity company, said its planned acquisition by Colorado-based Energy Fuels will provide better access to the materials it needs. The deal “will strengthen Germany’s and Europe’s independence in critical rare earth components,” Vacuumschmelze Chief Executive Erik Eschen said.