The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is a U.S.-government-sponsored non‑profit corporation established after Washington derecognized Taipei in 1979; it serves as the United States’ de facto embassy in Taiwan, carrying out consular, citizen‑services, commercial, cultural, and policy engagement under a Department of State contract and implementing the Taiwan Relations Act.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) is Taiwan’s main unofficial mission in the United States (its de‑facto embassy); it conducts consular, economic, cultural, congressional and public‑diplomacy functions on Taiwan’s behalf and coordinates Taiwan’s network of TECO offices across the U.S.
The Pax Silica Declaration is a U.S.‑led international statement, launched in December 2025, that sets shared principles for securing AI and semiconductor supply chains (from minerals through compute and infrastructure) and for allied cooperation on transparency, resilience, and economic security; it is a principles‑based cooperation framework rather than an enforceable treaty.
It means protecting every layer of AI systems—from critical minerals and chip fabs, to GPUs/accelerators, firmware, operating systems, model training/data, and cloud hosting—through measures such as supplier vetting and diversification, secure design and provenance tracking, third‑party audits and certification, cybersecurity controls, stockpiles/domestic production incentives, export controls and investment screening, and international standards and partner cooperation so both companies and governments can reduce risk and ensure trustworthy, resilient AI deployment.
The State Department release records two concrete outcomes from the EPPD: AIT and TECRO signed a joint statement endorsing the Pax Silica Declaration and a U.S.–Taiwan Cooperation on Economic Security statement; the dialogue also identified follow‑up areas for cooperation (AI supply‑chain security, trusted digital infrastructure, UAS component certification, critical minerals, responses to economic coercion, third‑country cooperation, and tax‑barrier work) but did not publish a detailed binding action plan in the public statement.
Cooperation on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) component certification would streamline mutual recognition of technical standards and testing, speed certification of parts, reduce duplication of tests, and make it easier for manufacturers to sell interoperable, certified components across jurisdictions; regulators would coordinate criteria and oversight, and commercial drone operators would benefit from clearer safety standards and faster access to certified components but may face new compliance requirements.