Pax Silica Is a Strong Step for Securing Critical Minerals, but It Needs Follow-Through

In early December, the Trump administration announced the formation of a new “silicon supply chain.” This initiative, given the moniker Pax Silica, will seek to coordinate silicon protection across nine countries: the United States, Australia, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom (UK). As part of the initiative, the nine will focus on procuring critical minerals, investment opportunities, working on critical infrastructure, and creating “trusted technology ecosystems.”

This initiative, spearheaded by Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg, is a phenomenal start and should be lauded for several reasons.

For starters, it is a direct example of how the administration is already seeking to carry out its vision for the world as laid out in the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS). That document implicitly recognized that the world was multipolar, and that there would need to be a “rebalancing” against China. It also called for “securing access to critical supply chains and materials.”

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