U.S. moves to set minimum prices for critical minerals to blunt China’s low-price offensive

System already in development…discussions underway with allies

The United States is moving to introduce a minimum-price regime for critical minerals as it seeks to block China’s low-price offensive. The plan is said to have moved well beyond the conceptual stage and been substantially fleshed out.

On the 17th (local time), Jacob Helberg, the U.S. State Department’s under secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment, said at the “Defense Technology Leadership Summit” in West Palm Beach, Florida, that “to reduce U.S. dependence on China for critical minerals essential to national security, multiple government agencies have jointly developed a price-floor system,” adding that “we are currently holding related discussions with allies.” Helberg said the price floor would be introduced through “Pax Silica,” a U.S.-led alliance aimed at strengthening supply chains. He did not disclose details such as the pricing methodology, the implementation timeline, or the specific operating framework.

The Donald Trump administration on the 4th proposed introducing a price floor and encouraging active participation by private equity funds at a ministerial-level critical minerals meeting hosted by the State Department, which invited representatives from 55 countries. In a keynote address at the time, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said, “We are presenting concrete mechanisms to restore the global critical minerals market to a healthier and more competitive structure,” adding, “We will build a preferential trade zone for critical minerals that is protected from external disruptions and sustained by an enforceable price floor.” Analysts say the latest remarks indicate that the earlier concept has progressed into the policy design phase.

With China having secured an effectively dominant position in the refining and processing of rare earths and battery-related minerals, the U.S. price floor is being read as a collective defensive mechanism aimed at countering China-driven low-price pressure, going beyond a simple industrial support measure. Industry in the U.S. has long argued for institutional safeguards to prevent price declines driven by China’s large-scale supply and the resulting erosion of profitability for Western companies.

Bloomberg said the move is “part of a strategy to reconfigure supply chains in response to China’s expanding influence in the critical minerals market.”

Reporter Lee Hye-in hey@hankyung.com