Explainer | Will US-led ‘Pax Silica’ shore up minerals supply chains and counter China’s dominance?

In its push to secure supplies of critical minerals, the Donald Trump administration has increasingly looked abroad to reduce vulnerabilities in supply chains that underpin many of the world’s most advanced technologies.

From China to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Ukraine, key strands of US foreign policy in recent months have centred on access to these materials – a group of roughly 60 minerals that the US Geological Survey considers vital to national and economic security, including rare earths that have become a focal point of Washington’s trade war with Beijing.

The nine-country initiative, launched in December, is aimed at securing AI-related supply chains in areas such as critical minerals, semiconductor design and energy.

In the words of Jacob Helberg, US Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs, the initiative aims to build a “vibrant ecosystem of vendors and suppliers” across Pax Silica countries to support resilient supply chains.