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Washington D.C. -- The Printed Circuit Board Association of America (“PCBAA” or the “Organization”) is pleased with the House Armed Services Committee’s new report on supply chain vulnerabilities and recommendations to enhance the sources of critical materials, such as microelectronics and “other critical components” that include printed circuit boards (“PCBs”), which serve as the foundation of virtually all electronic systems.
On Wednesday, July 21st, the bipartisan Defense Critical Supply Chain Task Force released a report on supply chain vulnerabilities the U.S. faces and steps the nation can take to deter risks in the future. The Task Force included two recommendations that may impact PCBs specifically: (1) Increase funding for microelectronics research and (2) authorize and fund a national microelectronics industrial strategy to build on the CHIPS Act from the National Defense Authorization Act from Fiscal Year 2021. PCBAA supports these recommendations as they could help the U.S. deter its reliance on China for critical microelectronics and reduce supply chain risks faced by the U.S. military and the U.S. PCB industry. “The recommendations from the Armed Services Committee’s Supply Chain Task Force are helpful and highlight the need to stem the tide of U.S. dependence on Chinese PCBs for critical electronics systems,” said a PCBAA spokesperson. “Continued reliance on Chinese-made PCBs exposes the United States industrial base to numerous risks, especially for much needed technologically advanced PCBs. In addition, PCBs coming from foreign adversary countries are also subject to potential manipulation and security and quality concerns. These concerns highlight the need for continued efforts to increase domestic PCB production that is reliable and secure. We appreciate lawmakers’ efforts to understand and identify supply chain risks, especially as we return to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic.” Moving forward, the PCBAA will continue to track lawmakers’ actions to secure U.S. supply chains, especially for PCBs, and the specific policy items that come from the Supply Chain Task Force’s report. The full report from the Task Force may be following via the link below: https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20210721/f2/c7/a5/b2/70d85a1b8a205714a56df405/Final_Task_Force_Report_7-20-21.pdf About PCBAA and Printed Circuit Boards PCBAA is a consortium of U.S.-based companies that support the domestic production of printed circuit boards, enhanced supply chain security, and initiatives that will help private industry decrease reliance on China. Printed circuit boards, or PCBs, are the small green pieces of plastic on which microelectronics sit for computer chips. They are the central nervous system for many technologies that power society and allow American soldiers to protect this nation. Comments are closed.
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