Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1506834
SEPTEMBER 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 23 customers the opportunity to better afford the purchase of U.S. manufactured printed circuit boards and substrates." "Our industry is grateful for this bipartisan support for American-made microelectron- ics," said Will Marsh, president of PCBAA and vice president of TTM Technologies. "is is the right response to years of offshoring and a dangerous dependence on foreign sourcing." Background PCBs are the material on which semicon- ductors sit (oen the green-colored surface in images of chips) and are a critical part of the sup- ply chain. An assessment from the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security called for domes- tic investment and produc- tion of key information and communications tech- nology products such as PCBs. e Protecting Circuit B o a r d s a n d Su b s t r a te s Act does the following to incentivize domestic PCB manufacturing and R&D: • Provides a 25% tax credit for the purchase or acquisition of American-made PCBs • Establishes a financial assistance program, modeled on the CHIPS for America Act, for American facilities manufacturing or researching PCBs • Requires a Presidential determination for single financial awards over $150 million • Provides for delay and technology claw backs of award funds in the event that funding is not used efficiently or used in a manner that raises national security concerns • Authorizes appropriations of $3 billion to carry out the program SMT007 moved offshore, making PCBs vulnerable to tampering by foreign adversaries, and only 4% of PCBs are manufactured in the United States. If we want to ensure technological superiority across the global stage and strengthen national security, we need to bring PCB production back to America, which is exactly what my bipartisan bill does." "Remember, chips don't float. ey need PCBs to connect to any electronic device. With production of American-made semicon- ductors ramping up, PCBs are a key ingredi- ent in revitalizing the nation's microelectron- ics ecosystem," said Travis Ke l l y, c h a i r m a n o f t h e P r i n t e d C i r c u i t B o a r d Association of America ( P C B A A ) . " W i t h o u t a r o b u s t d o m e s t i c s u p p l y c h a i n , w e h a v e b e c o m e almost entirely reliant on foreign suppliers for the PCBs we need." "From F-35s to F-150s, the modern world is built on printed circuit boards, and we need to make more of them in America," said Dav id Schi ld, e xec- ut ive director of PCBAA. "is b i l l w i l l l e a d t o n e w f a c t o r i e s , h i g h p a y i n g j o b s , and an ecosystem to support the work being done by our colleagues in the semicon- ductor industry." "is bipartisan bill addresses well-known vulnerabilities in U.S. electronics manufac- turing, taking a 'silicon-to-systems' approach that prioritizes greater innovation and resil- iency across the entire industry," said John W. Mitchell, president and CEO of IPC. "We thank Reps. Moore and Eshoo for their leader- ship, and we call on all members of Congress to support this bill." "We are excited to see the introduction of the PCBS Act today," said Tom Edman, CEO of TTM Technologies. "We believe that the passage of this Act will provide our global Remember, chips don't float. They need PCBs to connect to any electronic device.