Waging the Battle for American PCB Reshoring

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Legislation is shaping global trade, tariffs, and sustainability and environmental regulations. David Schild of PCBAA discusses exactly where the U.S. stands in its efforts to reshore printed circuit board manufacturing for critical industries. This conversation at PCB West occurred on the first day of the federal government’s shutdown, so it seemed especially timely to hear David's thoughts and insights on how the current political climate is affecting efforts to achieve the U.S. industry’s reshoring goals.

Audio Transcript:

Marcy LaRont: This is Marcy LaRont with I-Connect007, and I'm here at PCB West in Santa Clara with David Schild of the PCBAA. Hi, David, thanks for being here.

David Schild: Great to be here, Marcy. Always good to talk to you.

LaRont: Today of all days, I'm especially happy to talk to you. We were all celebrating in March last year based on what we thought were some spending appropriations that had been approved and some support in the government for the printed circuit board manufacturing sector in the U.S. part of the microelectronic stack and electronic stack. A lot has changed since then.

Schild: Thanks, Marcy. It's good to be here with you in Santa Clara at PCB West. This is a great trade show. There are so many of our members, and hopefully some prospective members in the room as well, but there is a real concentration of industry greats, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

You know, it's been a really interesting year. When we last talked, we were celebrating some wins in Washington. Of course, it was a big win just three years ago, when the president declared that printed circuit boards and IC substrates were a critical national security technology. That was a huge win.

What followed was about $118 million in funding through the Defense Production Act. That's the Pentagon giving out money, investing primarily in HDI and UHDI, and that money is at work right now building factories in places like Michigan, New York, and New Hampshire. Those are big wins.

Part of PCBAA's mission to educate, advocate and legislate mission in Washington, is to wring out real policy change and real funding. It’s pushing the armed services committees, the appropriations committees, every year to tell the Pentagon, and fund the Pentagon to support our industry. That's one of our core objectives, and I think we've been pretty successful.

Unfortunately, coming into FY 2026, we saw that the microelectronics funding lines were zero. Now, part of that has to do with new philosophies, seats, and officials at the Pentagon—the Department of War, as we're now calling it. I think there are some reasons for optimism, even though that funding went away.

LaRont: Is that something that would typically happen, that it would get zeroed out at the next budget?

Schild: You know, I was surprised, and I think all of us—our partners at GEA, everybody in the industry—were surprised that this was done, because the language from the authorizers says very specifically that the Secretary of Defense shall prioritize investments in printed circuit boards made in America. So, on one hand, you have Congress saying to the Pentagon, “Prioritize this.” We also know that there is an executive agent at the Pentagon. There is an Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial-based Policy, Mike Cadenazzi, who was just confirmed a couple of weeks ago. By staffing, by mandate from the Hill, the Pentagon is being told to prioritize American-made microelectronics, so it is surprising to see a zero in the funding line.

What I think may happen, where we have cautious optimism, is that there's money in other accounts, for example, the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS). There's nearly $2 billion there. That should be enough, not just for rare earths or rocket motors, but also for printed circuit boards made in America.

We will be working with Mr. Cadenazzi, Under Secretary Duffy, and the PCD executive agent based out of Indiana, to say, “Hey, we understand this particular line of the budget was zero. It's an unusual year, budget-wise. Where can we find other monies to make these investments? Because we all know that if you want to have a Golden Dome system, and triple your acquisition of high-end interceptors from companies like Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, Boeing, etc., you've got to have a microelectronics supply chain that is trusted, secure, and at capacity. We're being told America's OEMs are being told, “Triple your output.” Well, that flows down into their suppliers, and if we're going to do that, and our aerospace and defense ecosystem is operating almost at capacity now, we're going to need some investment from the government.”

LaRont: Absolutely. I'll ask you later in this interview about demand signals, because that's obviously very important in the U.S. as opposed to a subsidized government, but it occurs to me, as today it was announced that the federal government is shut down, for now, that this is an incredibly difficult environment in which to advocate for anything just because of the craziness of the news cycle and where all the attention is going. How is PCBAA managing around this to continue to achieve its goals?

Schild: I think, like anybody in Washington, we are frustrated by the inability of legislators to come together and keep the government open. The shutdown is a loss, and I think anybody in our industry would say that. It makes it very difficult to access the right officials. Of course, programs are suspended, and I'm hopeful that this will be a short shutdown and we'll get back to the business of governing.

On the optimism side, I would say that the issues that we're all concerned about—industrial policy, competition with China, restoring and reshoring American manufacturing capacity—are somewhat evergreen. We are in this golden age, “I want to see more things made in America. I want more of the electronics side to be trusted and secured, and domestically sourced. I want to compete on the global stage. I don't want all of our manufacturing capacity to go fallow.” So, while this is a temporary problem, I think the attitude in Washington of, “Hey, we need to make more things. We need to build up on industrial capacity,” is still there.

LaRont: I agree. I guess that consistent thread is definitely helpful in continuing to carry the mantle. I would like to ask you about demand signal. We talk about the microelectronics supply chain. In addition to defense and security, what we've labeled national security-type items, we're really getting more into talking about critical infrastructure and that there's a lot more at stake than just what is very apparently defense-related.

So, in that situation, how do you see—maybe a model or messaging in what you're starting to talk about—how the U.S. government will help to ensure that there is demand for these companies that are looking to make these huge investments, even if it is somewhat subsidized?

Schild: We saw with the CHIPS Act that the $52 billion in government money was matched and exceeded largely by almost $462 billion to date, in private money. We believe that when Uncle Sam backs an industry, Wall Street private equity takes that as a signal. How can we make a similar investment, a similar backing of the printed circuit board industry?

Well, there are a couple of things we can do. You talk about critical infrastructure. In the United States, most of the PCB work that remains is defense and aerospace-oriented. That's because ITAR restrictions mandate that the work be done domestically. I talk about ITAR like a tall fence around a small yard. It is marquee defense programs that we're all familiar with, but let's think more broadly about critical infrastructure. Do we want our water and power grid, banking servers, medical devices, and telecommunications infrastructure populated with foreign microelectronics?

I asked that question on Capitol Hill and the answer, Marcy, is always, “No, I don't want that. I want that stuff made in America.” Well, I've got bad news for you about where it's made today. The government absolutely can put up some guardrails. It can institute government purchasing rules, domestic sourcing requirements, and that would create a demand signal overnight.

If we said 5G telecommunications needed to be populated with American printed circuit boards, there would be a commercial demand signal overnight if we built out the next generation of air traffic control systems. With American-made printed circuit boards, there will be a need for huge commercial lines. So, there are actions the government can take.

We just need the executive branch and Congress to work together to come up with those rules. Of course, we need to work with the OEMs and the primes just to make sure the implementation schedule is realistic and that they can pivot out of their existing Asian supply chains.

I think many people want to diversify their manufacturing. They want to source all over the world, but right now, six out of 10 boards are from mainland China, nine out of 10 boards from Asia. The options simply aren't there. We need to make it work for your bottom line, and we need to create rules that slowly but surely, reshore production.

LaRont: This is obviously a critical issue. You guys are doing amazing work. I know you're also working with the Global Electronics Association advocacy as well. What are the things that industry members should be doing, like talking to congressmen, signing letters, becoming PCBAA members? What are some calls to action that industry members should be aware of, and what should they be doing?

Schild: You're absolutely right. What we're going for helps many folks in the microelectronics space directly and indirectly. A rising tide will lift all boats. So, if you are in the test business, the critical minerals or refined materials business, the assembly business, the board business, the test business, any of these sectors—a robust and healthy American PCB industry is good for your bottom line.

You look at our membership from five to 75 members in four years, the reason for that and the diversity of our membership, the fact that we're putting a lot of dots on the map all over the country is because folks say, “Hey, if the American market is strong, my market is strong, if the American market is sustainable, my business in North America is sustainable.”

Of course, we want people on our team, and joining is easy and beneficial. But we want them writing letters, coming to Washington, hosting members of Congress at their facility. As I'm here in Northern California this week visiting our members, I'm so impressed at the manufacturing operations, and the question I always ask is, “Has your mayor, the county commissioner, your senator, your governor walked through this facility and seen that we still do manufacturing in America? To see that you're supporting the F-35 program, the Columbia class submarine, whatever it might be?” Too often, the answer is no. Part of my mandate and mission is to get those elected officials out to do those plant tours, and then they become our advocates at the State House and in Washington.

LaRont: PCBAA will help facilitate that?

 Schild: Absolutely. If you are scared about Washington, or intimidated about having a member of Congress walk through your facility, we will hold your hand and make that a beneficial visit for you.

LaRont: Okay. I want to end on what I consider a positive note. Before you and I started chatting formally, we were chatting informally, and I want you to restate some of what you said to me. I know there's a tremendous amount of frustration, certainly from outside perception about the lack of Washington, and almost every sector, to be able to get anything done. Yet there is a reality of the people working on the Hill, and some of the people that you interface with regularly. So, can you just recount what you were saying?

Schild: Sure. If you're running a business, shipping product, or providing critical electronics solutions, and turn on the news, open the paper, or go online, your impression of Washington, of course, is negative because you see people with extreme positions screaming into the microphone. I want to reinforce that that's not who we are working with. There is a moderate, reasonable group of people on both sides of the aisle who want to see American manufacturing restored, want America competing on the global stage, and want us trusting our electronics.

Those people, Republicans and Democrats, are working with PCBAA, GEA, and anybody at the table to affect real change. That's how the CHIPS Act got done. It's how our bill, HR 3597, is going to move forward. It's how the Pentagon is going to invest.

I would just ask you to remain optimistic. Keep your head down, keep building great products, and we'll keep advocating for you in Washington.

LaRont: That's a great place to end. David, always good to talk to you. David Schild of PCBAA here at PCB West in Santa Clara, California. Thank you for the work that you're doing and continuing to do.

This interview originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of PCB007 Magazine.