Flexible Thinking: Designing Flex Circuits for Dynamic Reliability
Global PCB Connections: Rigid-flex and Flexible PCBs—The Backbone of Modern Electronics
Happy’s Tech Talk #29: Bend-to-Install Semi-flex FR-4
The Global Electronics Association announced the formation of the Global Electronics Policy Council (GEPC), a new body uniting leading electronics companies from around the world to advance a coordinated policy agenda across every major region of the electronics supply chain. The GEPC builds on the Association's longstanding electronics industry advocacy work over its nearly 70-year history. For the first time, companies spanning the full electronics value chain - from PCB manufacturers and EMS providers to OEMs, semiconductor suppliers, wire harness, and advanced packaging firms - will have a single, structured forum to translate industry consensus into coordinated government engagement.
GEPC launches against a backdrop of escalating policy pressure on the electronics industry, including tariff volatility, export controls, and competing domestic investment mandates. The Global Electronics Association's own trade flows research underscores the urgency: global electronics trade totaled $4.5 trillion in 2023, with supply chains more globally interdependent than any other industry. That interdependence makes coordinated advocacy not just useful, but essential.
"No single company or country can navigate this environment alone," said Thomas Cetta, Senior Vice President, Jabil and chairperson of the GEPC. "The Global Electronics Policy Council gives the industry the structure and discipline to speak with one voice on the challenges that matter most and to engage governments with the credibility and accountability that comes from real organizational commitment."
A Council Built for Action, Not Just Alignment
Unlike informal industry coalitions, the Global Electronics Policy Council is governed by formal bylaws, a defined leadership structure, and regional execution arms spanning North America, Europe, East Asia, and India/Southeast Asia. The Council will produce an approved global policy agenda and annual advocacy plan, issue formal policy positions and testimony, and deliver quarterly reporting on government engagement activity.
Inaugural members include AT&S, Flex, Jabil, Plexus, TSMC, and TTM Technologies representing a deliberately balanced cross-section of the electronics value chain.
A Clear and Ambitious Policy Framework
The Council's advocacy will be organized around five priorities drawn from the Global Electronics Association's 2026 Policy Agenda: safeguarding predictable access to global markets; investing in domestic manufacturing capacity and capability; building robust workforce pipelines for the electronics industry; supporting industry-led technical and sustainability standards while rightsizing regulation; and accelerating technology leadership through collaborative R&D. Regional councils will execute against this global framework.
"The GEPC reinforces an essential aspect of our industry: a strong, connected global electronics manufacturing community," said Chris Mitchell, VP Global Government Relations, Global Electronics Association. "This Council will advance a policy agenda that strengthens supply-chain resilience, accelerates innovation, and secures trusted access to global markets for the 3,200+ member companies."
