Juan Marcos Pollio Argentina has joined Pax Silica, the strategic alliance championed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The goal is to build a strategic partnership on artificial intelligence that strengthens the supply chains for advanced technologies.
Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno announced the move on social media.
“This initiative will allow Argentina to take part in joint efforts to secure investment, build infrastructure and create incentives at every level of the global artificial intelligence supply chain,” he posted on X.
Quirno also tied the decision to the trade agreement signed in February to strengthen the supply and processing of critical minerals, which, in his view, “reinforces the strategic relationship between Argentina and the United States.”
What is Pax Silica?
Pax Silica is an international coalition formed against the backdrop of the trade and technology war between the U.S. and China. Its main goal is to secure supply chains that underpin artificial intelligence — critical minerals, rare earths, power generation, data-processing infrastructure, and semiconductor manufacturing.
The initiative was formally launched on December 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C., setting out a framework of economic and technological cooperation.
Besides Argentina and the U.S., the following countries have signed the declaration so far: Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
An opportunity for Argentina
Federico Vaccarezza, an economist and Europe specialist at the Institute of International Relations at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, told the Herald that becoming a supplier in the global technology value chain at the start of the 21st century is an opportunity that “rarely presents itself this way” to Argentina.
He explained that breaking into those technology supply chains was a pending matter “not only for Argentina but for all of Latin America.”
He argued that in the 1960s, manufacturing was the sector that countries like Argentina had to foster in order to close the gap with developed economies. Today, that economic development means building up the technology sector.
“The current gap between the most advanced countries and the ones lagging behind is technology,” he stressed, adding that the competition between China and the United States is opening up an opportunity for Argentina that is unlikely to come around again.
He raised a question, though, regarding the place Argentina will occupy in that global chain.
“Whether [the country’s] going to be only a supplier of raw materials and natural resources or whether it’s going to think ahead toward developing a competitive knowledge economy,” he said.
He stressed that the knowledge economy is Argentina’s third-largest export cluster. Taking part in Pax Silica could be a chance to boost that part of an economic sector that generates hard currency for the country’s coffers.
According to a report by Argencon, the chamber that brings together the sector’s leading companies, foreign sales of knowledge-based services totaled US$10 billion between March 2025 and the same month this year.
The figure represents 11.7% year-on-year growth and cements the sector as the country’s third-largest export complex, behind farming and energy — the latter growing fast thanks to the unconventional oil and gas production at Vaca Muerta.
Approval of the Super RIGI
The Pax Silica news came after the lower house approved the incentive regime known as “Super RIGI.” Officially dubbed Incentive Regime for Large Investments in New Industries (RIGI for New Industries), it grants tax, customs, foreign-exchange, and regulatory benefits for 30 years to investments above US$1 billion.
While the bill doesn’t specify which foreign companies it’s targeting, the document mentions attracting “industries of the future” that the government defines as “genuinely new” to Argentina.
It also mentions strategic technological and digital infrastructure, activities still at an “experimental or pilot” stage in the country, as well as sectors that require “anticipated macroeconomic solutions” in order to develop.
