IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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58 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2026 A M E R I CA N M A D E A DVO CACY O ur nation's commerce and national de- fense depend on secure microelectronics in systems on land, in the air, under the sea, and in space. Our world is powered by micro- electronics that rely on rare earth minerals, special- ty metals, and, increasingly, components sourced in other countries, some of which are adversarial and engage in unfair trade practices. The fact that we manufacture only 4% of the world's PCB supply imperils America's technol- ogy goals. PCBs were invented in the U.S., and we were the global provider of innovation for decades. As the critical mass of global production has migrated offshore since the 1990s, R&D and new materials have followed, leaving the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage in providing the latest- generation technologies for PCB designs. Now we are relegated to perpetually catching up with the latest manufacturing methods in other countries whose governments have steadily in- vested in our industry over the past three decades. Given the increasing importance of PCBs as the BY S H A N E W H I T ES I D E , P C BA A American Microelectronics Power the Future of High Technology