Pax Silica and Indo-Pacific Partners

Insights from Akhil Ramesh.

The inaugural Pax Silica Summit convened stakeholders from: Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Australia, alongside guest contributions from Taiwan, the European Union, Canada, and the OECD, Dec. 12, 2025.

The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Akhil Ramesh – director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative at the Pacific Forum – is the 514th in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.”

Explain how the U.S.-led Pax Silica Initiative integrates economic security with foreign policy.

Pax Silica can be understood through two complementary lenses. First, it reflects a distinctive Trump administration initiative that uses critical technology cooperation – particularly across the silicon and semiconductor value chain – as a tool to strengthen bilateral relations while advancing broader U.S. economic and commercial interests. Second, it can also be seen as a continuation of the industrial policy foundations laid during the Biden administration.

Under President Biden, initiatives such as the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and CHIPS4 were designed to complement domestic industrial policies like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Pax Silica appears to build on these efforts, but with a stronger transactional and deal-oriented Trump approach, focusing on securing strategic agreements with countries across the world to reinforce U.S. leadership in semiconductor production, critical minerals, and advanced technology supply chains. In this way, economic security becomes a central pillar of foreign policy engagement.

Examine factors behind Indo-Pacific partners’ decisions to participate in Pax Silica.

The global economy remains deeply interconnected around two major poles: the United States and China. While the U.S. and its allies dominate the design and manufacturing of advanced semiconductors and high-end technologies, China maintains significant control over rare earth mineral processing and upstream supply chains.

For Indo-Pacific countries, participation in Pax Silica is driven by strategic pragmatism. These states recognize the importance of being part of every major economic and technological framework that offers security, investment, and market access benefits. Joining such initiatives allows them to diversify economic risk, attract industrial investment, strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity, and avoid overdependence on any single power. Rather than choosing sides outright, many countries view participation as a way to maximize strategic flexibility while benefiting from both U.S.-led and China-linked economic ecosystems.

What are the geopolitical drivers behind Pax Silica vis-à-vis China’s supply chain dominance?

Early in its second term, the Trump administration recognized that engaging with the People’s Republic of China required a fundamentally different approach than dealing with other major economies. While several countries sought negotiated settlements and conciliatory approaches in response to tariffs........

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