Spokesman Philip Crowley said the announcement was "another desperate act in his campaign to cling to power."
The comments came a day after Gbagbo ordered his government to take control of the country's cocoa purchases and exports, so far dominated by multinational companies, an official said.
Ivory Coast accounts for 40 per cent of global cocoa supplies, valued at US$4.5 billion a year at current prices, according to London's Financial Times.
Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized as the winner of Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election in November, last month extended a ban on cocoa exports, a cornerstone of the economy, to March 15.
The ban is part of a bid to pressure outgoing president Gbagbo to relinquish power.
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