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Frankly, it's contributing to the strength of the sec- tors. We get a lot of inquiries from foreign compa- nies. Many prospective foreign investors are finding a big mismatch between what foreign companies want and what's available in the U.S., especially on the bare board side but as well as on the EMS side. Foreign companies often look for well-financed and well-equipped shops. Of course, those exist, but for the most part, U.S. companies are focused on middle and low volume, high mix, which might interest many foreign companies, especially on the PC board fab side. The amount of investment that U.S. companies have made is not on a par with what foreign companies are looking for. Is a greenfield the best option for a foreign company to pursue a China Plus One strat- egy in the U.S.? Yes, especially on the bare board side, and it's not just foreign companies. Starlink went the greenfield route. TTM just purchased a large facil- ity from TDK in Wisconsin. Furthermore, TTM has been establishing or building out its facilities. That will be more the route we will see—foreign com- panies and U.S.-based companies will look more toward greenfield, especially on the bare board side. EMS is a little different. There are many nice facilities available. However, U.S.-based EMS com- panies' focus is often more toward low volume, high mix, and mil/aero customers, which is not exactly what foreign buyers seek. To build out infrastructure in the U.S. and have more manufacturing resiliency, we need to attract more high-volume work, which creates a chicken- and-egg problem. We generally don't have the expertise or infrastructure for that kind of man- ufacturing. It has to be built, and the companies with the capability are the foreign competitors. Starlink, which appears to be a high-volume, highly automated facility, is a good example. Most of the other greenfield facilities in the U.S. are medium volume, but I'm not really sure. My focus is on sell- ing existing companies, but I've noticed that when foreign companies look at acquiring here, the greenfield option often is a much better choice, especially on the board side. What are your thoughts on the EMS side? Much of the higher-volume work is going to Mex- ico, where labor costs are lower, and workers are more available. When foreign companies want to buy a U.S. EMS company, they're looking for pro- totypes and specialized assemblies as opposed to high volume. That's interesting. I hear that on the bare board side, they want high-volume shops and aren't finding them, but if they're on the EMS side, they're looking for a specialty shop with unique capabilities. Yes, foreign buyers want to purchase higher-volume shops, meaning higher revenue. Many foreign buy- ers want bare board shops with at least $50–$60 million in revenue. However, there are so few candi- dates. Most are family-owned and are not coming to the market, so there's not much available, and even when they do, many of those shops are focused on mil/aero as opposed to volume production. Buyers want a more commercial style of busi- ness—applications that they can run at higher vol- ume in their production facilities overseas. Mean- while, military work can't be taken overseas. So, while the mil/aero culture is one thing, the higher- volume commercial culture is different. It's hard for foreign buyers to find the right culture because they either buy something they aren't completely happy with (which is normal) and change it, or they go for a greenfield. Will we see a significant influx of foreign invest- ment into the U.S. market? Yes, I think so. Whether it's the trade policies of the current administration or the fact that the U.S. mar- ket is growing faster and is perceived to be stron- ger, foreign companies will see the U.S. as an inter- esting place to do business. Increasingly, they will want to have a foothold here for volume work. 30 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2025 Tom Kastner