The United States Has Launched The Silicon Supply Chain Initiative

HOUSTON, December 12th (Argus) - The United States is working to establish strategic partnerships with several countries including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia to strengthen the silicon supply chain. The U.S. State Department's initiative is called "Pax Silica", which will create a framework to ensure the silicon supply chain and key minerals and energy inputs in downstream joint ventures, in order to improve semiconductor and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Participating countries plan to build mineral refining and processing capabilities, data centers, and fiber optic cables. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), polysilicon typically contains over 99.999% silicon and is refined into silicon wafers, which are the basic manufacturing materials for artificial intelligence chips and semiconductors. SIA states that five suppliers represent the majority of global semiconductor wafer production, but currently the production capacity in the United States cannot meet the growing domestic demand for artificial intelligence applications.