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American Made Advocacy: Domestic Manufacturing Takes Center Stage on Capitol Hill

Last month, I had the pleasure of presiding over PCBAA’s third annual meeting—and my first as chair of the association. We spent two days in Washington, D.C., engaging with government officials, elected representatives, and thought leaders to educate, advocate, and legislate for American manufacturing.

Those sessions provided unique insights, and the chance to network with colleagues throughout the supply chain was invaluable. I was gratified to see so many executives from around the country and across our ecosystem. PCBAA membership has grown by more than a factor of 10 since we established the association with five companies in 2021; we now have members in 28 states.

We had dozens of meetings on Capitol Hill advocating for our industry and securing additional cosponsors for H.R. 3249, the PCBS Act. There is still a need to educate policymakers about the entire electronics ecosystem. Many in Congress understand that we need to make more chips in America, but as we say, chips don’t float.

After three decades of steady contraction, our government recognizes the need to create solutions to reverse our dependence on long and vulnerable supply chains. America must scale up microelectronics manufacturing to protect ourselves from the impact of political decisions, armed conflicts, and/or natural disasters that could choke off access to the technologies our economy depends on.

The importance of technology in our everyday lives underscores the need for robust American manufacturing capacity. From artificial intelligence to national security and critical infrastructure, there is incredible demand for the next generation of microelectronics. While we may acquire some of what we need through nearshoring or friend-shoring, a long-term solution must include increased domestic capacity for the technologies that power our way of life.

One sector where we have seen progress is national defense. The Pentagon understands the importance of substrates and PCBs for mission-critical applications. Defense Production Act (DPA) investments have been awarded to several of our member companies, and PCBAA and IPC are jointly focused on sustained and robust funding of the DPA account.

But national security is more than defense. One of our legislative goals is to change the narrative to include the trusted electronics powering telecommunications, banking, the power grid, water systems, medical systems, air traffic control, and many others. This is why Congress must look past the CHIPS Act and invest in substrates and PCBs. We’ve seen hundreds of billions of dollars of private money follow public action, and now is the time to support the rest of the technology stack.

In the years ahead, we will meet with legislators, policymakers, think tanks, and reporters to tell our story. Remember, the CHIPS Act took almost five years to become law. That is why we need to communicate our issues clearly and consistently year over year.

Don’t sit on the sidelines as we fight to restore American manufacturing; now is the time to join our association and make your voice heard in Washington.

This column originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine.