Agreement between the US and Italia on critical raw materials: public and private resources to secure the AI supply chain

A new step towards the so-called ‘Pax Silica’, the US State Department’s flagship initiative on artificial intelligence and supply chain security, designed to fortify the supply chains for AI, advanced semiconductors and critical minerals, whilst progressively isolating China. In New York, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the Italia-US Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of critical minerals. A statement explains that the signing establishes an Italia–US ‘Technical Working Group’ on critical minerals, tasked with implementing the bilateral collaboration.

Thanks to this agreement, it will be possible to strengthen joint efforts to secure the supply chains for these raw materials, through the exchange of information and expertise and the mobilisation of public and private resources for investment in the mining, processing and recycling sectors, the latter being a field in which Italia boasts companies of the highest calibre.

The text also addresses the issue of market prices for critical raw materials, providing for collaboration with international partners to develop fairer price-setting mechanisms.

Finally, the agreement provides that this partnership will complement and support coordination at the multilateral level, such as that promoted by the G7 Alliance for Resilience and Production.

The Memorandum follows the Minister’s participation in the ministerial event launched last February in Washington to mark the start of the US ‘Forge’ (Forum for Geostrategic Engagement on Resources) initiative on critical minerals. It is also within this context that Italia joined ‘Pax Silica’ on 31 July, a US initiative aimed at securing the supply chain for artificial intelligence and semiconductors. The agreement will complement the similar one signed last April between the EU and the US.