According to a report by Mining.com, Reuters, citing unnamed insiders, said that U.S. government officials are preparing to set minimum prices for critical mineral products in order to ensure domestic production of these key minerals and reduce reliance on foreign sources.

This strategy is based on a public-private partnership recently established by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and MP Materials (MPM), a company specializing in rare-earth materials, to build a domestic supply chain for rare-earth permanent magnets. The agreement, announced on July 10, includes a 10-year offtake agreement and sets a minimum price of US$110 per kilogram for praseodymium-neodymium materials.

At the unreported meeting on July 24, U.S. Trade Advisor Peter Navarro and National Security Council official David Copley informed the 10 rare-earth producers in attendance—as well as tech giants Apple, Microsoft, and Corning, which rely on critical minerals—took note that the agreement with MPM was not “unique”; similar agreements are also under development.

Since April, the vulnerability of the U.S. rare-earth supply chain has become apparent, and calls for strengthening the resilience of the industrial base have grown louder.

The only U.S. producer of rare earths—critical materials used in manufacturing smartphones, jet engines, electric vehicles, and defense equipment—MPM Company is the sole domestic producer of rare earths in the United States.

Other companies attending the aforementioned meeting include rare-earth refiner Phoenix Tailings, Momentum Technologies—which has built a battery and magnet recycling system—and Vulcan Elements.

Navarro confirmed that the Trump administration aims to address the vulnerabilities in the U.S. critical mineral supply chain as soon as possible. However, he did not mention a floor price during the meeting.