The United States is partnering with allies in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East to tackle the global memory chip shortage through a new supply chain coalition, a State Department official told Nikkei Asia on Monday.
The department launched the Pax Silica initiative in December. The coalition aims to secure supply chains for semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals while reducing reliance on China.
Yifan Yu for Nikkei Asia:
Fourteen countries including India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the Philippines have joined the coalition, with Norway set to do so this week, Jacob Helberg, undersecretary of state for economic affairs, told Nikkei Asia on the sidelines of the 2026 Milken Institute Global Conference.
The global memory chip supply shortage continues to worsen as the industry struggles to keep pace with skyrocketing demand boosted by artificial intelligence, weighing on tech companies big and small from AI chipmakers to Apple.
The Trump administration looks to address the memory chip crunch by leveraging the supply chain coalition, particularly with Asian allies such as South Korea.
“Addressing the memory shortage is, for us, a key priority to advance through the Pax Silica initiative,” Helberg said. “It’s possible for us to partner in a bilateral and plurilateral way with an excellent framework to actually spin up projects that help us move the needle.”
One example of that partnership, Helberg said, is the 4,000-acre industrial hub being set up on the Philippine island of Luzon by Washington and Manila.
Helberg will lead a delegation of U.S. officials and business leaders to the Philippines later this month to discuss details of the use of the massive industrial park.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is expected to visit Beijing on May 14-15, and supply chain issues including semiconductor and rare-earth export controls could be discussed when he meets Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“President Trump will be heading to Beijing with the American delegation with maximum optionality and leverage because he has really positioned the United States to enhance its position at many different layers of the supply chain,” Helberg said. “The president can actually have a very productive and fruitful trip to China, while at the same time continuing to make progress on all of our supply chain security initiatives,” he said.
MacDailyNews Note: More info about Pax Silica via the U.S. Department of State here.
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