On December 13, 2025, the US State Department, together with representatives from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, and Israel, signed the “Pax Silica Declaration” to officially launch the “Pax Silica Initiative”. This initiative aims to ensure the security of the supply chain of critical minerals such as silicon and rare earth elements needed for artificial intelligence. Experts pointed out that this marks the comprehensive competition between the US and China in the fields of technology and economy.
The US State Department’s Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Jacob Helberg, signed the “Pax Silica Declaration” with representatives from the five countries on December 12. On December 11, the US and Japan had already signed a joint preamble in Washington, signed by Helberg and Japan’s Ambassador to the US, Shigeo Yamanaka.
The “Pax Silica” Summit, derived from Latin meaning “peace, stability, and lasting prosperity” along with “Silica” referring to silicon, a compound that can be refined to obtain silicon – one of the core elements of computer chips.
The US State Department’s statement indicated that the “Pax Silica Initiative” is a new type of international cooperation aimed at uniting countries with the world’s most advanced technology companies to unleash the economic potential of the new era of artificial intelligence. The statement mentioned that this is the first time countries have come together around strategic assets such as computing, silicon, minerals, and energy.
On December 12, the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Israel, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and the EU convened for the Pax Silica Summit in Washington. Participating countries at the summit will explore opportunities for cooperation in areas such as connectivity and data infrastructure, computing and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, logistics, mineral refining and processing, and energy.
The statement emphasized that the establishment of such a partnership is not “intended to isolate other countries”, but is a response to the “increasing risks of mandatory dependencies”. Although China was not explicitly mentioned in the statement, it is noteworthy that China is the world’s largest producer of silicon and virtually monopolizes rare earth production. In early October, Beijing announced strengthened controls on rare earth exports.
Assistant Research Fellow Shuo-Wen Wang at the Taiwan Institute for National Defense and Security Studies told Daijiworld that the initiative has three main features: the US uniting with other countries to address the concentrated supply problem of rare earths; consolidating research and manufacturing efforts with ally nations that have advantages in artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and semiconductors; and signaling to allies to collectively invest in potential cooperative exports amid tariff pressures.
Wang pointed out that the selection of the five countries reflects strategic considerations. Japan and South Korea are important partners for US semiconductor production, Japan and Israel demonstrate strong capabilities in artificial intelligence and quantum technology research, while Australia and Singapore are geopolitical allies of the US in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
She believes that this move reflects the US’s integration of technological, economic security, and geopolitical resources, signaling a comprehensive competition between the US and China in technology and economy.
Researcher Ming-Shih Shen from the Taiwan Institute for National Defense and Security Studies told Daijiworld that apart from Australia’s own rare earth resources, the US’s main goal in uniting these countries is to reduce dependence on China and collectively establish a supply chain system with other countries that similarly rely on China.
“The impact of this alliance on China cannot be ignored. Except for Singapore, the US has alliance relations with these countries, and the possibility of artificial intelligence and military applications cannot be ruled out,” Shen said.
Before the launch of the “Pax Silica Initiative”, the US had taken various measures domestically and internationally to rebuild the rare earth supply chain.
On November 7, US Treasury Secretary Besant visited the EVAC factory in Sumter, South Carolina to celebrate the first domestic production of rare earth magnets in the US in the past 25 years. According to Fox Business News, President Trump immediately issued an executive order upon taking office with the aim of making the US a global leader in the rare earth industry.
According to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, US rare earth magnet manufacturer Vulcan Elements announced on November 18 that they would invest $1 billion to build a factory in Benson Town, North Carolina, with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons of magnets. The factory received direct loans of $620 million from the Pentagon and $550 million in private funding. Governor Josh Stein of North Carolina stated that this factory would become the largest magnet factory outside of China.
In terms of international cooperation, US rare earth company MP Materials announced on November 19 that they would collaborate with the Pentagon and Saudi state-owned mining company Maaden to build a rare earth refining plant in Saudi Arabia. James Litinsky, CEO of MP Materials, stated that this project expands MP’s global industrial layout and deepens the economic and security links between the US and Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, the US has increased its investments in rare earth resources in Africa. BBC cited data from Johns Hopkins University’s “China-Africa Research Initiative” stating that the US invested $7.8 billion in Africa in 2023, surpassing China’s $4 billion, marking the first time since 2012 that the US has regained the lead.
The US House of Representatives’ Special Committee on the Chinese Communist Party held a hearing on November 19, focusing on how the CCP controls global critical mineral supply chains through market manipulation. Committee Chairman Mullin emphasized that the US must act quickly to address dependency issues within the “ceasefire period” of the one-year rare earth export restrictions agreement reached between the US and China last month.
Federal Representative Carlos Gimenez urged the US to focus on alternative solutions. Minnesota-based company Niron Magnetics is producing the world’s first commercially scalable, rare earth-free high-performance permanent magnet. The Graphite Creek deposit near Nome, Alaska, was discovered to contain defense-grade rare earth materials, including neodymium.
Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen of Greenland clearly stated in an interview with Nikkei on November 19 that Greenland seeks to cooperate with democratic countries to develop critical minerals such as rare earths.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takashichi announced on November 6 that Japan and the US are planning to jointly develop rare earth mines in the vicinity of South Torishima in the Pacific Ocean. Japan plans to conduct feasibility tests for extracting rare earth mud from the seabed 6,000 meters deep next January.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun citing sources from the Japanese government, there have been delays in China’s approval of rare earth exports to Japanese companies. A spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated on December 4 that if Japan acts unilaterally, necessary measures will be taken.
Wang believes that the US’s urgent efforts to unite allied countries to establish a technology and economic alliance indicate that the US has realized the serious consequences of falling behind in technology and economy. She noted that this can be seen as the US’s strategy in technology and economy, but unlike military and politics, the success of this venture remains to be seen. From Trump’s first term to Biden’s term and now, the direction has not changed, indicating that the US and China have entered a long-term competition phase.
Shen believes that the US cannot rely solely on its own strength in technological competition, and by uniting these countries, may expand future cooperation with Arab countries to establish a supply chain system to reduce dependence on China.
It is worth noting that Western alliances are focusing on the high-value refining and recycling segments of the industry chain, avoiding the low-standard, high-pollution mode they depended on in the past.
For example, the US company Ramaco Resources plans to mine over 450 tons of rare earths from its Brook Mine in Wyoming. Additionally, the $500 million partnership between MP Materials and Apple is establishing a closed-loop supply system that extracts heavy rare earths from recycled materials.
Meanwhile, Australian companies Lynas Rare Earths and Iluka Resources are constructing large refining plants in Malaysia and Western Australia. Iluka Resources’ refining plant is expected to process heavy rare earth raw materials from suppliers like Northern Minerals, thereby establishing a complete and traceable supply pipeline.