Today: One of the mining industry’s biggest ever deals comes as companies rush to raise bets on copper; Hyundai raid exposes visa shortage for battery specialists; Europe orders textile producers to manage their own waste.

In what is one of the biggest ever merger deals in the mining industry, Anglo American and Teck Resources have agreed to combine to create one of the world’s largest copper producers, the WSJ's Adam Whittaker and Rhiannon Hoyle report.

The deal, with a combined market value of more than $53 billion, comes as companies rush to raise their bets on copper, an industrial metal that is a key component in everything from electric vehicles to AI data.

Copper consumption is climbing amid the transition to greener energy but new supplies of the metal aren’t expected to keep pace with demand, leading to higher prices.

Projections of a huge shortfall in the coming years have put copper at the heart of dealmaking in the mining sector, with the U.K.’s Anglo and Canada’s Teck rejecting multibillion-dollar takeover approaches in the past two years from BHP and Glencore, respectively.

Electric vehicles and solar and wind farms use copper in much greater quantities than gasoline-powered cars and coal-fired power stations. The metal is also used in chips, wiring, cooling systems and other components for data centers, as well as the power infrastructure needed to run them.

• Mining megadeal shows the world is crazy for copper. (WSJ)
• How a remote copper pit led to the biggest mining deal in a decade. (FT)
• EU wants to mine the moon for clean energy resources. (Politico)

The Trump administration wants Asian manufacturing powerhouses to pour investment into U.S. factories making high-tech products like electric-vehicle batteries. It also wants tougher immigration enforcement, the WSJ's Jiyoung Sohn and Yang Jie report.

Those goals are now clashing because Asian companies are having trouble getting enough work visas for personnel needed to get the U.S. plants up and running, say immigration specialists.

Last week, the contradiction was highlighted when the U.S. carried out an immigration raid in Georgia and arrested some 300 South Koreans helping to build a Hyundai Motor joint-venture battery plant.

Now the South Koreans are expected to head home soon under a diplomatic deal, and experts say it might take longer and cost more for Asian companies to build their U.S. factories without the specialists they need.

• Hyundai raid puts Trump’s competing agendas in spotlight. (Barron's)

Producers that sell textiles in the European Union will have to cover the cost of collecting, sorting and recycling those materials, under a new directive to reduce waste in the fashion industry.

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan reports that under the Extended Producer Responsibility directive, the European Parliament will adopt a new law whereby producers will have to oversee the management of waste from clothing to blankets to curtains. The directive covers the full life cycle of a product and aims to motivate producers to “reduce waste and increase the circularity of textile products,” since they will be bearing the cost of managing that waste.

The European Parliament is looking to reduce the environmental impact of the fast-fashion industry. Some 12.6 million metric tons of textile waste are generated in the EU each year, according to the European Commission. It estimates that just 1% of textiles are recycled worldwide.

The EPR will be set up by each EU member state within 30 months of the directive coming into force, which is likely to happen next month, according to an EU representative. It will apply to all producers, including those using e-commerce tools and irrespective of whether they are established in an EU country or outside the bloc. Smaller companies will have an additional year to comply with the requirements, the Parliament said. 

• Future EVs must be made in Europe, EU president says. (WSJ)
• EU clears Malaysia palm oil certification for deforestation rule. (Reuters)
• Trump pressed EU for tariffs on China, India in sanctions talks. (WSJ)

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WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.