Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1475010
54 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2022 Nolan Johnson: ank you, Travis and Rep. Moore, for joining this conversation regard- ing the Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards (SAPCB) Act of 2022. Our readership is the electronics manufacturing sector that designs, manufactures, and assembles those printed circuit boards, so this legislation is near and dear to their hearts and wallets. We're delighted to have you here. Would you provide some background on the genesis of this pro- posed legislation? Travis Kelly: As you know, the printed circuit board industry in the United States has gone from roughly 2,000 companies down to 145, which is very draconian in terms of the over- all resiliency of that domestic supply base. We are constantly looking at the different levels of competition within the industry; ultimately, we need to level the playing field. In some cases, the U.S. printed circuit board fabricators and assemblers are actually competing against countries, not companies. is means compet- ing against foreign subsidies in terms of some of the competition that arises. We want to level the playing field so that the U.S. domes- tic industry, as it relates to microelectronics, is not only resilient and sustainable but also secure. HR 7677, supporting American-made PCBs, is important to the overall health of the domestic industry. Rep. Blake Moore: As I work throughout my district, I haven't seen anything more consis- tent. In my role, I'll interact with leaders from car dealerships to manufacturing operations. I was just at a meeting this morning where the topic was the dire need for chips. ey told me they're having to pay more than what they had built their cost models on, and they are desper- ately in need of product. I've never seen some- thing so ubiquitous across our economy that needs this big family of semiconductor capa- bility. We need to shore up our supply chain; it's tied directly to national security and my distrust of Chinese-made products. I believe legislation like this will help onshore produc- tion and will address the supply chain issues regarding national security. Passing this legislation will show industries that we know they're working hard but it's vir- tually impossible to do the job that they need to do at scale. I'm in contact with a company right now that manufactures sensors for weather- related issues and builds predictive models for numerous government agencies. ey can't do their job because they can't even get access to this material. is is where we can step in and help. We shape the legislation, as Travis men- tioned. Johnson: Is it fair to say that the primary objec- tive of this legislation is to both level the play- ing field and increase availability in the supply chain? Moore: For me, the primary objective is about what's important long term. We know we have ceded so much of our manufacturing capa- bility to adversarial nations. Looking at the big picture means pulling that back and using Rep. Blake Moore