Critical minerals stocks fall; Vance touts price floor system

Shares of rare earths and critical minerals companies fall between 8% and 14%

U.S. Vice President JD Vance unveiled plans to marshal allies into a preferential trade bloc for critical minerals, proposing coordinated price floors as Washington escalates efforts to loosen China's grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing

*By guaranteeing minimum prices through coordinated trade rules, Washington hopes to unlock private investment in mining and processing projects that have struggled to compete with cheaper Chinese supply

MP Materials MP.N down 9.8%, US Rare Earth USAR.O falls 12%, Critical Metals CRML.O declines 11.3%

American Resources AREC.O down 12%

Shares of other critical minerals and metals companies fall as well; United States Antimony UAMY.A down 13.9%, TMC TMC.O declines 8.6%

*Lithium miners shares also down with Albemarle ALB.N declining 2.3% and U.S-listed shares of SQM .N> down 7.3%