PCBs Garnering Legislative Support

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In an op-ed published in San Jose’s Mercury News, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) speaks to the importance of the electronics manufacturing ecosystems in the United States. Eshoo’s constituency is California’s 16th district, based in Silicon Valley. Along with Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), Eshoo introduced HR 3249, the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates Act, a bill supporting the U.S. printed circuit board manufacturing industry.

In her opinion piece, Eshoo begins by reminding readers that U.S. production of semiconductors has dropped from 40% to 12% in the past 30 years, leaving our supply chains fragile and easily disrupted. She states:

“To revitalize our domestic semiconductor industry, Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act last year, and last week, the House of Representatives built on that investment by passing my bipartisan bill, the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act. This bill will ensure that the government develops strategies to attract investment in semiconductors here in the United States to bring our country back to No. 1 in the world in semiconductor manufacturing and to maintain our leadership in technological innovation.

“While these bills are needed to reduce our reliance on foreign manufacturers and boost domestic investment, chips are just one source of vulnerability in the microelectronics supply chain. Chips sit on printed circuit boards (PCBs), critical and complex components of almost every piece of electronics used today. All chips are mounted on PCBs, which allow them to communicate with the systems they power. Currently, as with semiconductors, China dominates PCB production, creating 45% of PCBs globally, while the U.S. market share is only 4%.”

The Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act of 2023 “requires the SelectUSA program to solicit comments from state economic development organizations regarding federal efforts to increase foreign direct investment in semiconductor-related manufacturing and production. SelectUSA must then report to Congress on such comments and the strategies that SelectUSA may employ to increase such investment and to secure the U.S. semiconductor supply chain. SelectUSA is a Department of Commerce program established to coordinate federal efforts to attract and retain business investment in the United States.”

To read this entire article, including her opinion piece, which appeared in the September 2023 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.