Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1534385
a strong first step in the semicon- ductor arena. Once policymakers realized that 13% market share in semiconductors was a threat to our national and economic security, a bipartisan consensus emerged to break ground on chip fabs here at home. Anyone flying into Phoenix recently could not miss the for- est of construction cranes as new semiconductor fabs rise from the desert floor. What is conspicu- ously absent is concurrent work on the rest of the microelectronics ecosystem. If America can manu- facture cutting-edge semiconductors, we can also make the next generation of printed cir- cuit boards, IC substrates, and raw and refined materials. When it comes to creating effective national industrial policy, there are many levers the gov- ernment can pull to increase American manu- facturing. At the moment we're relying on tar- iffs. As the new administration implements these tariffs, our industry, like many others, is carefully monitoring the effects. When selec- tively applied, tariffs can be an effective tool to level the playing field. However, tariffs can be changed or repealed by a single political appointee and, therefore, do not always incentivize long- term investment in domestic production. ere is more in the toolkit that Congress and federal agen- cies can use to promote domes- tic industry growth. Tax incen- tives and direct investment pro- vide longer-term, structural benefits to U.S. producers. As we have seen in the case of semi- conductor production, gov- ernment support through the CHIPS Act attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment alongside govern- ment money. What the PCB industry needs is the durable demand signal that will generate a stronger investment case for the domestic pro- duction of microelectronics. When it comes to Wall Street, Uncle Sam's endorsement is sec- ond to none. e investments being made in semiconduc- tor manufacturing are an important first step but, as PCBAA has said since our founding, "Chips don't float." While the U.S. and other nations are investing in chip production, we find ourselves in a situation where we can- not provide the number of PCBs these Amer- ican-made chips must be attached to. Having staked our claim for semiconductor produc- tion, now is the time to build on that momentum and incen- tivize the rest of the technology stack and create the demand sig- nal that will reverse decades of decline. PCB007 Shane Whiteside is president and CEO of Summit Interconnect and current chair of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America. To read past columns, click here. " ... we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot provide the number of PCBs these American-made chips must be aached to. " 28 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025