What Is Pax Silica?
Pax Silica is an initiative announced by the U.S. Department of State in December 2025. It seeks to secure supply chains for silicon and other minerals essential to semiconductor production and, by extension, to artificial intelligence and other advanced technological industries. Pax Silica roughly translates to “Silica Peace,” referring to silica, the raw material used to produce silicon, a key element in the manufacture of computer chips.
We affirm our shared commitment to advance mutual prosperity, technological progress, and economic security for our peoples.
Semiconductors are cost-effective materials whose electrical conductivity can be precisely controlled. This makes them crucial to industries that use computers and other microchip-controlled devices, including those used in telecommunications, artificial intelligence systems, energy grids, and financial infrastructure. The global semiconductor supply chain is unevenly distributed, with key capabilities concentrated in East Asia, where different segments of production, from fabrication to assembly, are highly developed. Though the text of the Pax Silica declaration does not name countries or regions, it identifies reducing “coercive dependencies” as one of its objectives, referring to the economic risks that arise when critical industries rely heavily on a limited number of external suppliers.
Pax Silica aims to avoid these risks by creating what it terms a more secure environment for technology and related trade. It also strives to create a broad consensus among signatory countries on trade and other economic factors affecting supply chains. Signatories agree to reduce reliance on markets that concentrate manufacturing power and to offer fair trade terms to other signatory countries. Ultimately, the agreement aims to create a reliable shared infrastructure to build secure systems among partners.
Some critics of the declaration argue that it fails to define policies or establish enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance from signatories. Others say that the agreement undermines its stated aim of collaboration and instead narrowly reflects the United States’ interests. Some experts contend that developing economies signing the agreement could be confined to lower-value roles because advanced segments of the semiconductor industry—design and high-end fabrication—require resources largely concentrated in developed countries. Another concern with the terms of the declaration is that the creation of two groups—those who agree to the Pax Silica declaration and those who do not—could create a bipolar division that centers the United States and China in global technology trade.
Signatories to the declaration include Australia, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom; Taiwan is a non-signatory participant.