US, Australian, Indian and Japanese foreign ministers on October 31, 2026, vowed to work on building reliable global supply chains and voiced major concerns regarding what they defined as economic coercion through restrictions on exports and non-market practices but did not name China.
It is worth noting that the joint statement from the foreign ministers of the Indo-Pacific Quad came as Japan has been highly critical of Beijing for its export restrictions of critical minerals, and the US has been building a coalition to rally G20 countries worried about China’s supremacy when it comes to rare earths as well as other critical minerals.
Apparently, the meeting came just before Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, hosted the final session of a meeting in Atlanta of foreign ministers from the larger Group of 20 major economies, which includes the likes of China.
The Quad ministers reaffirmed their backing for a free and open Indo-Pacific and stressed the significance of economic security when it comes to maintaining global prosperity and stability, such as through transparent and reliable global supply chains.
They expressed serious concerns pertaining to the economic pressure, such as through arbitrary export limitations and non-market regulations and procedures contributing to capacity overruns so as to interfere with global supply chains as far as critical industries are concerned.
The statement said the ministers pointed out the absolute need to safeguard and uphold maritime navigational rights and freedoms in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, as well as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Notably, the group pledged over $85 million in funding to bolster reputable artificial intelligence technologies throughout the Indo-Pacific region and said it would initiate a fresh initiative to detect shortcomings in semiconductor and related supply chains before they can cause problems.
This was the third meeting of the Quad foreign ministers in 2026, with plans being put in shape for US President Donald Trump to be present at his first formal meeting of the leaders of the four nations in November 2026 in Manila during a conference of the Association of South-east Asian Nations.
Rubio told the reporters that a meeting of the Quad leaders in Manila will hopefully be announced very soon but provided no other details.
He added that the Quad was not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition, he said, and the joint statement expressed concerns regarding conduct and actions that he said were coming continually from one country.
The US had put a lot of time into the Quad group and desired to continue to build on its accomplishments on specific initiatives and projects, including a $20 million project in Palau so as to improve its digital infrastructure, he said.
All four countries have already made significant strides in being able to share common assets in the case of a humanitarian crisis or natural disaster and also plan to set up a commercial forum so companies in each country can find new possibilities to collaborate together, Rubio stated.
