Those reference prices will be set by the US Department of Defense's Open Price Exploration for National Security (Open) AI metals program, according to the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. An antimony price set by the AI program and backed by the trade block could boost profits for companies developing U.S. antimony projects, for example. The plan to create a minerals reference price and support it with tariffs has sparked questions about whether the tariff would apply to all products containing critical minerals. The Open program comes amid private industry efforts to boost transparency. "I would want to make sure any reference price is above that."

Source: The Edge Markets February 24, 2026 13:41 UTC