This story was updated Sept. 3.
The Biden administration is weighing whether to financially boost critical mineral producers facing anticompetitive practices from countries like China.
The Energy Department is considering the use of additional loan guarantees, setting a floor for the price of minerals and entering into contracts to offset the price of cheap metals like nickel, cobalt and lithium that have flooded the market.
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The agency is “evaluating programmatic authorities across the department so should solutions exist, they can be vetted,” a spokesperson for DOE said in an email. “DOE is not releasing a new policy at this time,” the spokesperson said.
