WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States is positioning India as a key future partner in a new economic security framework aimed at safeguarding global supply chains for artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said Friday.
Speaking at the Hudson Institute, Helberg said Washington is preparing to expand its Pax Silica initiative, an economic security coalition focused on semiconductors, critical minerals, logistics, and AI infrastructure.
He said the U.S. “looks forward to welcoming India next month” as part of the partnership, underscoring New Delhi’s growing role in global technology and supply chain discussions.
Helberg said the global technology landscape has shifted dramatically over the past decade, arguing that long-held assumptions in Washington no longer apply.
“The hardware of our modern life, the silicon that powers everything from your kids’ smartphones to our most advanced kinetic weapons, has become the primary theatre of strategic competition,” he said, adding that supply chains are no longer neutral commercial systems but instruments of geopolitical power.
He said the Trump administration views the AI race as a contest on three fronts: innovation, market diffusion, and supply chain security, warning that shortages of chips, minerals, or infrastructure could slow progress across the technology stack.
“Winning the AI race means winning on three fronts,” Helberg said.
Helberg pointed to what he described as a resurgence of the U.S. economy, citing growth of 5.4 percent and noting that the world’s ten largest companies by market capitalization are all American, most of them technology firms.
He credited that performance to President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, saying the administration is determined to ensure American-led systems become the global default in emerging technologies.
Pax Silica, Helberg said, is designed to translate that ambition into coordinated action with trusted partners. He described it as a coalition of technologically capable economies that together account for a dominant share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
Along with India’s expected entry, Helberg said recent partners include Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with discussions also underway with countries in Europe, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere.
The initiative will operate along three lines of effort: membership, policy, and projects. On policy, Helberg said partners are working toward shared definitions of sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure, with discussions also underway on anti-dumping practices.
On projects, he said the focus will be on industrial capacity and logistics, with pilot efforts launched on a bilateral or “plurilateral” basis rather than through a single multilateral model.
Helberg said the private sector will remain “our biggest weapon,” adding that governments should remove regulatory hurdles, protect intellectual property, and create incentives rather than directly run projects.
He said securing supply chains will require more than policy coordination, emphasizing the need for product-driven solutions, including intelligent logistics systems capable of anticipating disruptions.
Addressing China, Helberg said Pax Silica is “not a China strategy” but “an America strategy,” focused on ensuring reliable and competitive access to minerals, manufacturing, and logistics.
He added that the U.S. will take a “trust but verify” approach with partners and avoid rigid “purity tests” that could weaken cooperation. (Source: IANS)
