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40 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2024 Feature Q&A with Chris Mitchell IPC What do you do when you don't know what to do? at is the conundrum facing U.S. gov- ernment officials overseeing billions of dollars in strategic investments in the domestic micro- electronics industry. Enormous grants are beginning to flow to the chips sector, and aer years of IPC advocacy and education efforts, policymakers have gained a clearer picture of the rest of the electronics supply chain, includ- ing everything chips depend on to function. But knowing what to do in a chips-centric world is proving more difficult than expected. In this interview, Chris Mitchell, IPC VP of global government relations, explains the range of challenges facing policymakers in the United States, Europe, and beyond, and IPC's policy agenda to tackle them. Over the past several years, IPC has worked to persuade government policymakers to sup- port the entire electronics supply chain, not just semiconductor chips. How is that going? Chris Mitchell: In response to the COVID pan- demic and geopolitical tensions in East Asia, many people thought there would be fun- damental changes in how the United States sources electronics. Indeed, we have seen growth domestically in electronics manufac- turing and even greater increases in Mexico and in U.S.-friendly countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia. But for all the concern about industrial resiliency and national security, the underly- ing realities of the global supply chain haven't really changed. Asia continues to have some of Governments Struggling With 'Silicon-to-Systems Approach'