The Quad’s role in shifting to resilient technology supply chains and energy security
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Key points
- The Quad countries are working collaboratively to create new technology supply chains that are resilient and immune to Chinese coercion.
- A cooperative approach to creating new supply chains among like-minded nations is necessary to making them sustainable over time, even as the United States takes targeted, unilateral steps to restrict Chinese access to technology.
- The levels of development and areas of focus for each Quad member’s critical and emerging technologies industries vary substantially; they should play to their individual strengths.
Policy recommendations
Quad countries should:
- Incentivise private sector investment in the production of critical technologies and minerals by employing economic policy tools such as loan guarantees and direct equity investments that will facilitate the creation of new and resilient supply chains.
- Explore the feasibility of joint strategic investments in critical mineral projects in partner countries.
- Combine research and development efforts to improve battery technologies and manufacturing in ways that reduce dependence on cobalt and nickel.
About the series
This paper has been written for the Quad Tech Network Dialogue, as part of the Quad Tech Network (QTN) initiative. QTN is an initiative of the NSC, delivered with support from the Australian Government. It aims to establish and deepen academic and official networks linking the Quad nations – Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – in relation to the most pressing technology issues affecting the future security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.
