U.S. Pullback on Critical Minerals Price Guarantee Hits Stocks

The U.S. administration has stepped back from plans to guarantee a minimum price for domestic critical minerals projects, Reuters reported Wednesday.
The announcement prompted sharp after-hours declines in rare-earth miners and related ETFs as investors reassessed revenue and risk profiles for new projects.
USA Rare Earth (USAR) fell roughly 10–15%, MP Materials (MP) slid about 10%, and the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF (REMX) dropped near 5.5%.
The price-guarantee concept was intended to stabilize returns for capital-intensive upstream mining and processing — easing financing and encouraging onshoring of supply chains for magnets, batteries and other strategic components.
Pulling back reduces that revenue certainty, which can increase borrowing costs, delay project timelines and sustain reliance on foreign suppliers for certain critical inputs.
Analysts say the absence of a floor could amplify commodity price volatility and complicate efforts to scale domestic refining and separation capacity, areas already constrained by technical and permitting hurdles.
Market reaction also spilled into broader mining and tech-linked equities as sentiment weakened; stakeholders will be watching for alternative policy measures to support U.S. critical mineral development.