Department of State Launches Pax Silica Fund

The U.S. Department of State today announced that it intends, working with Congress, to allocate $250 million in foreign assistance funding for a new Pax Silica Fund initiative to support critical minerals extraction, processing, critical infrastructure, and manufacturing assets that support secure and reliable semiconductor supply chains.

Pax Silica brings strategic partnerships and coordinated action across every layer of the supply chain. Today’s announcement demonstrates the United States’ commitment to supporting that approach with concrete mechanisms to drive meaningful progress. We expect that this fund will help to catalyze trusted capital from large sovereign wealth and private sources which on average control more than $1 trillion in assets to build greater investments in supply chain security. 

The fund will also continue to deliver on Secretary Rubio’s “Trade Not Aid” objective by advancing the America First assistance agenda. It will leverage Pax Silica’s leading private sector partners and sovereign signatories to invest in critical emerging technologies. Using foreign assistance to attract private and allied co-investment, the fund will also create new commercial opportunities for U.S. and other trusted companies worldwide.