Calls to support US PCB industry

Business news | January 31, 2022

By Nick Flaherty

The lack of any significant US government support for the printed circuit board sector is leaving the country’s economy and security dangerously reliant on foreign suppliers says the global board makers’ association.

A report by IPC, the global association of electronics manufacturers, outlines steps that the U.S. Government and the industry itself must take if it is to survive.

Since 2000, the US share of global PCB production has fallen from over 30% to just 4 percent with China now dominating the sector at around 50 percent. Only four of the top 20 electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies are based in the United States.

However the industry has seen strong growth through the Covid-19 pandemic. In December, total North American PCB shipments were up 16.9 percent compared to the same month last year and up 21.5 percent on the previous month.

“PCB bookings rose sharply in December 2021, the strongest month of bookings since December 2005,” said Shawn DuBravac, IPC’s chief economist. “For the calendar year, bookings rose 19.3 percent and shipments rose 6.7 percent.”

The industry needs support in the same way as the semiconductor industry as a strategic resource, say the report written by industry veteran Joe O’Neil. It was prompted in part by the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act (USICA) and similar legislation being prepared in the House to boost chip production. O’Neil writes that for any such measures to achieve their stated goals, Congress must ensure that printed circuit boards (PCBs) and related technologies are covered as well as semiconductors. Otherwise, the US will become increasingly unable to manufacture the cutting-edge electronics systems it designs, says the IPC

“The PCB fabrication sector in the United States is in worse trouble than the semiconductor sector, and it’s time for both industry and government to make some significant changes to address that,” writes O’Neil, the principal of OAA Ventures in San Jose, California. “Otherwise, the PCB sector may soon face extinction in the United States, putting America’s future at risk.”

Any loss of access to China’s PCB production would be “catastrophic,” with computers, telecommunications networks, medical equipment, aerospace, cars and trucks, and other industries already dependent on non-US electronics suppliers.

To fix this problem, “the industry needs to intensify its focus on research and development (R&D), standards, and automation, and the US Government needs to provide supportive policy, including greater investment in PCB-related R&D,” said O’Neil. “With that interconnected, two-track approach, the domestic industry could regain the ability to meet the needs of critical industries in the coming decades.”

“The U.S. Government and all stakeholders need to recognize that every piece of the electronics ecosystem is vitally important to all the others, and they must all be nurtured if the government’s goal is to re-establish U.S. independence and leadership in advanced electronics for critical applications,” said Chris Mitchell, vice president of global government relations for IPC.

With the European CHIPS Act being prepared, supporting PCB production in the region will also come into more focus as a sovereign capability.