IPC Commends U.S., EU Efforts to Strengthen Supply Chains, Urges Focus on Electronics Manufacturing

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IPC issued the following statement by its President and CEO, John Mitchell, on the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council.

“IPC commends U.S. and European leaders for reaffirming the strategic importance of the Transatlantic partnership on trade expansion, supply chain resiliency, technical standards, and technological innovation at the inaugural meeting of the U.S-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

“We applaud the TTC for its immediate focus on strengthening the semiconductor supply chain and stemming a chip shortage that continues to roil the global economy. An IPC survey this month found the chip shortage is increasing costs for producers and extending lead times for 90% of electronics manufacturers. And companies expect the crisis to extend into at least the second half of 2022 without action.

“The TTC has rightly focused on identifying gaps within the semiconductor supply chain. The U.S. and Europe are far behind international competitors in advanced packaging, especially in advanced integrated circuit substrate fabrication. Regaining world-class advanced packaging capabilities is of paramount importance given the industry’s increasing migration to chiplet architectures to increase processing power. Without robust support for advanced packaging, the U.S. and EU will be unable to package chips domestically and will be forced to send chips abroad instead, creating new supply chain vulnerabilities.

“Ultimately, the TTC’s success will depend upon on addressing the challenges within the entire electronics manufacturing ecosystem. It is unsustainable to cherry pick segments of the supply chain based on transitory concerns with the expectation of strengthening transatlantic technological innovation, supply chain resiliency, and national security. Achieving these goals requires a holistic approach to manufacturing strategy—one that recognizes the importance of each segment of the supply chain. IPC urges the TTC to elevate the strategic importance of electronics manufacturing moving forward.

“As the TTC continues its work in the months ahead, IPC looks forward to working with the U.S. and EU leaders to cultivate and strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem.”