[kragen]

The loan idea might work, but it might not. Generally big corporations are better at fulfilling criteria for eligibility than small businesses are (they can afford larger legal departments), and it might just drive up prices without increasing supply. That seems to be what happened with state-backed loans for higher education in the US, for example.

The price-controls idea would create shortages, at least locally; Mouser and Digi-Key, prohibited from allocating scarce parts to those with more willingness to pay, would allocate them according to other criteria, such as customers with the largest established volume. Companies in other countries would have a major edge because they'd have access to distributors who weren't at risk of having their stock confiscated. The upshot would be that companies in whatever country instituted those price controls would be unable to compete on the global market because they couldn't buy on Aliexpress. (I've seen this kind of thing a lot up close and personal because I live in Argentina.)

[varispeed]

Fair points!