Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has raised the possibility of the US taking more direct stakes in rare earths companies and other strategic sectors, in response to China’s new restrictions on rare earth exports. Speaking at an event on Wednesday, Bessent described Beijing’s curbs as a threat to global supply chains and a sign that the US must become self-sufficient in critical materials or rely on trusted allies.
Bessent characterised China’s rare earth export controls as “China versus the world,” vowing that Washington and its allies would “neither be commanded nor controlled.” He said the US would set price floors and strategic stockpiles for rare earths, and that the administration was prepared to take stakes in sectors important to national security, including rare earths, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and steel.
Under President Donald Trump, the US has shifted from subsidies to direct stakes in companies such as Intel Corp, Trilogy Metals and MP Materials. Bessent stressed that the government would be “very careful not to overreach” and would only intervene in strategic industries. He added that US and Chinese officials were in touch to arrange a meeting between Trump and President Xi Jinping, and that trust between the two leaders had prevented further escalation of the trade conflict.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer warned that plans for tariff hikes or other export controls were in the works, calling China’s announcement “nothing more than a global supply chain power grab.” Bessent said the US does not want to decouple from China, but if Beijing proves to be an unreliable partner, “the world will have to decouple.”
