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American Made Advocacy: American Microelectronics Power the Future of High Technology

Our nation’s commerce and national defense depend on secure microelectronics in systems on land, in the air, under the sea, and in space. Our world is powered by microelectronics that rely on rare earth minerals, specialty 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 technology 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 invested in our industry over the past three decades. Given the increasing importance of PCBs as the foundation of all electronic platforms, the technology race against our global competitors must refocus on building a vibrant, innovative domestic PCB industry to further enable this competition against our adversaries.

As our nation prepares to send astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972, that complex feat depends on thousands of PCBs from liftoff to touch down. When the Artemis mission lifts off in March, every one of those PCBs must withstand the extreme environmental stresses of space travel and be trusted and secure. PCBs connect semiconductors to the operational systems that will take our astronauts to space and return them safely to Earth. PCBs also power the satellites we depend on for security, navigation, and weather data.

In addition to space travel, AI is driving an explosion of data center growth worldwide. The U.S. has the most data centers in the world, with hundreds more in the pipeline. Every acre of compute needs thousands of PCBs connecting semiconductors that manage the data used for national defense, telecommunications, air traffic control, banking, medical devices, and the electricity grid. Data centers often have American flags on the outside, but Chinese components inside. There are real risks when we allow an adversarial nation to provide key components controlling our critical infrastructure. Meaningful support of AI will require significant investments in U.S. capacity to make PCBs.

Friendly countries around the world are investing billions in their PCB industries. Governments in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, India, and Vietnam have all made significant investments in PCB manufacturing, attracting private investors. These countries are at the end of long and vulnerable supply chains and do not produce the trusted and secure PCBs required for our nation’s defense and critical infrastructure.

There will only be more demand for space missions, AI servers, and complex defense and infrastructure systems. They all need PCBs to function. The U.S. government should invest as other nations have, paving the way for the American PCB industry to be reshored and restored. America’s investment in semiconductors must be followed by a commensurate commitment to the rest of the technology stack, specifically substrates and PCBs .

Owning the future here on earth or amongst the stars means building big and making American manufacturing great again. But, without a visionary industrial policy, dreams of American technological leadership will remain just out of reach. H.R. 3597, the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates (PCBS) Act, would help put the U.S. back in a competitive position. Join PCBAA to help us educate legislators and policymakers in Washington about the role of PCBs in our nation’s future. For more information, visit pcbaa.org.

This column originally appeared in the March 2026 issue of I-Connect007 Magazine.