PARIS — The U.S. administration has pitched to its allies the idea of a minimum price on certain rare earths as a way to tackle China’s dominance in the strategic minerals.
During a meeting of G7 finance ministers hosted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Monday, the U.S. delegation proposed “the option of a price floor for trading certain rare earths,” an official from the French economy and finance ministry told reporters Tuesday.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, who attended the meeting, also said the U.S. administration had broached the idea of minimum prices.
The idea of setting a price floor is to make it economically viable to diversify supplies of rare earths away from China, which dominates production and holds a near monopoly on processing. Rare earths are used, among others, to make permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets.
