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American Made Advocacy: Lobbying Congress Supports the Supply Chain

The upheaval in world markets is driving daily headlines. The global supply chain has seemed “normal” for the microelectronics industry because over the past three decades, an increasing percentage of microelectronics components and materials have been made overseas. For many years, other countries, primarily in Asia, invested heavily in their microelectronics industry while U.S. companies offshored manufacturing services in pursuit of the lowest cost. As a result, U.S. companies couldn’t compete with manufacturers in those countries. To its credit, the current administration is attempting to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

The challenge is that without concurrent boosts to domestic capacity across the entire technology stack, including printed circuit boards (PCBs), tariffs alone won’t reach the goal of reshoring manufacturing. Tariffs drive up the cost of microelectronics materials and components sourced in other countries. Combine higher costs and a lack of business incentives and government investment in American-made microelectronics and existing microelectronics just become more expensive.

If there were a quick and easy way to ramp up manufacturing here, this wouldn’t be a problem. However, without an enduring domestic demand signal, private investors are reluctant to invest in new manufacturing capability. Even if they were, it would take years to fill in the production capacity and source materials and components in the United States. Foreign governments' policies drove manufacturing overseas, and only American policies can bring it back.

The economic forces that will reshore and restore our capacity will be hastened only if there is government investment and tax incentives. As we saw with the CHIPS Act, government action can catalyze significant private co-investment. Until the government reaches into the economic toolbox and pulls out tax incentives and investments in the national security-critical, but highly diminished, PCB sector, nothing will change. Tariffs alone will not reshore a complex industry like ours.

This is why PCBAA and IPC are lobbying Congress to support our industry. Soon, Rep. Blake Moore of Utah and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois will reintroduce our signature legislation: the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates (PCBS) Act. This bill provides a 25% tax incentive to buy American-made PCBs and fund workforce development and capital expenses to expand capacity. As part of our annual meeting in June, PCBAA members will spend a day on Capitol Hill educating Members of Congress and their staff about our industry and the support we need.

We go to the Hill because there is no substitute for the give-and-take of face-to-face discussions that reveal the real stories of American manufacturing. We educate lawmakers about the realities of our dependence on foreign-made PCBs. We advocate for policies that will reverse three decades of decline. If we are successful in these efforts, our employees, local economies, and the nation benefit through the legislation that results.

If you are a PCB industry leader who wants to lend your support to this effort, I encourage you to become a PCBAA member today and join us at our annual meeting in June.

This column originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of PCB007 Magazine.