Scott Bessent's 'Price Floor' Plan for China: What We Know and Why It's Pure Insanity

So, we're doing industrial policy now. The kind of top-down, price-fixing, government-knows-best meddling that we’ve spent the better part of a century sneering at when other countries do it. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got on CNBC and, with a straight face, announced that the Trump administration is going to start setting "price floors" for entire industries to fight China.

Let that sink in. The United States government, the supposed bastion of the free market, is going to dictate the minimum price for… well, he didn't say what, exactly. Besides rare earths, offcourse. It's a "we'll tell you later" kind of economic planning.

This is a bad idea. No, 'bad' doesn't cover it—this is a five-alarm dumpster fire of an idea, gift-wrapped in patriotic paper. They're essentially trying to play a real-life game of SimCity with the global supply chain, using cheat codes to prop up American companies. The government is now a venture capitalist, taking equity stakes in miners like MP Materials and guaranteeing them a profit. What could possibly go wrong? I’m asking that seriously. Who decides which industries are "strategic"? Is it the one with the best lobbyist? The one whose CEO golfs with the right people?

Because let's be real, once the government starts picking winners, the only thing that trickles down is the opportunity for corruption. We're told this is to secure materials for F-35s and Tomahawk missiles, which sounds important. But these same rare earths are in your electric car. Is the government going to set a price floor for EV batteries next? Where does this stop? It's a blank check for market manipulation, only this time, it's our market manipulation.

Diplomacy by Dr. Phil

If the economic plan sounds like it was cooked up in a fever dream, the diplomatic strategy appears to be ripped from an episode of a daytime talk show. Bessent didn't just outline policy; he went on a personal tirade against a Chinese trade negotiator named Li Chenggang. Trump aide calls out China official over 'uninvited' visit, terms him wolf warrior.

I'm sorry, what? This is how major world powers conduct themselves now? Publicly shaming mid-level officials? Bessent's performance was less Treasury Secretary and more angry dad yelling at his kid's soccer coach. The whole "wolf warrior" jab is particularly rich. It's a term for China's aggressive, confrontational diplomats, but what do you call an American official who publicly calls his counterpart "unhinged"? This ain't exactly the pinnacle of statesmanship.

It feels like the entire administration is just mainlining reality TV. Every conflict needs a villain, every news cycle a dramatic confrontation. They’re manufacturing outrage because it plays better than the tedious, soul-crushing work of actual negotiation. This isn't about securing rare earths; it's about creating a narrative where America is the righteous hero and China is the cartoon villain. It's simple, it's dumb, and people eat it up.

And for what? Bessent threatens 100% tariffs and brags that "we have things that are more powerful than the rare earth export controls." Okay, tough guy. What are they? Are we going to stop exporting our best reality shows? It's all just posturing, a high-stakes game of chicken where the collateral damage is, you know, the entire global economy. It's like watching two kids fight over a video game controller, and honestly...

Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one. Maybe this is just 4D chess and I'm too simple to see the genius of insulting your negotiating partner right before a major summit between Trump and Xi. Maybe setting arbitrary prices and turning the Treasury into a private equity firm is the future.

But I doubt it.

So We're Just Making Stuff Up Now?

This isn't a strategy. It's a tantrum. It's throwing wrenches into the complex gears of the global economy and hoping it somehow makes the machine run better for us. Setting price floors and picking corporate winners isn't a bold new form of capitalism; it's a desperate gamble by people who are out of ideas. They're not steering the ship; they're just spinning the wheel wildly and praying they don't hit an iceberg.