Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the United States government plans to “set price floors” across a range of industries to combat China’s economic manipulation.
Price floors are minimum prices set by the federal government and are an economic tool typically used by communist governments. The United States economy has very few examples of price floors, with the minimum wage and agricultural subsidies being two notable exceptions.
Bessent made the remark in an interview about trade and industrial policy with CNBC Wednesday morning, as the administration ups the ante on its trade war with China. The Chinese government has announced plans to tighten its restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals in response to the Trump administration’s plan to increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 100%.
“So we’re going to set price floors and forward buying to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, and we’re going to do it across a range of industries,” Bessent said while discussing China’s dominance in rare earth mineral processing and refining capacity.
The interviewer, Sara Eisen, did not specifically follow up about the price floor comment, instead asking about where Bessent plans to draw the line for the government taking stakes in companies that operate in critical industries.
The Trump administration now holds a direct stake in at least five companies, including chipmaker Intel and Lithium Americas.
The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how the price floors would be implemented — or which sectors would be affected.