What is the anti-China ‘Pax Silica’ that Italia is ready to sign?

Italy is working to join the Pax Silica – the US-led international initiative on critical minerals – ‘shortly’, and is ready to sign a memorandum of understanding with Washington on rare earths as a step in this direction. As the Pax Silica summit, scheduled for 25 and 26 June in Washington, approaches, the government is considering attending the summit, possibly at ambassadorial level though this has not yet been decided (Armando Varricchio is expected to attend), whilst in the meantime it is working on a new date for the signing of the memorandum on minerals, initially scheduled for the Miami Business Forum but subsequently cancelled due to tensions between Trump and Meloni. For months, participation in Pax Silica – which the Americans have been hoping for – has been urged by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, including in discussions with his European counterparts, in particular with European Commissioner for Trade Sefcovic.

Pax Silica (from the Latin ‘Peace of Silicon’) is therefore a new US-led technological and geopolitical alliance. It is the US State Department’s flagship initiative on artificial intelligence and supply chain security. The initiative was created to fortify the supply chains for AI, advanced semiconductors and critical minerals, gradually isolating China. Officially launched by the US State Department in December 2025, the proposal has rapidly evolved into a fully-fledged global economic security architecture. After an initial period of hesitation, the European Union is preparing to formalise its participation (Italia has worked hard to achieve this), driven by the need not to be excluded from the global AI standards defined by Washington.

On 26 March, the US State Department announced that it intends, in collaboration with Congress, to allocate $250 million in foreign assistance funds to this initiative, which aims to support the extraction and processing of critical minerals, essential infrastructure and production facilities that ensure the security and reliability of semiconductor supply chains.

The dossier is on the Italian government’s table. Rome is finalising the details of a bilateral memorandum of understanding with the US on critical minerals (backed by Tajani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio) as a preparatory step towards Italia’s official accession to the Pax Silica. The aim of this move is also to put an end to the tensions of recent days. The signing of the memorandum on minerals and Italia’s accession to the Pax Silica would be seen as the first step on the roadmap to strengthening relations between Italy and the United States.

Diplomatic efforts are under way to secure the signing of the memorandum, which follows in the footsteps of the one signed in April by the EU and Washington. The agreement offers significant potential for partnerships between Italian and US companies in the sectors of refining, processing, recycling and material recovery – an area in which Italia has particular expertise – as well as for joint investments in reliable third countries.