Bill to Subsidize US Circuit Board Production

Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif) and Blake Moore (R-Utah) are introducing bipartisan legislation designed to bring printed circuit board production back to the United States and strengthen supply chain security with manufacturing subsidies and tax credits for buyers of American-made product.

The Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates Act is aimed at encouraging domestic PCB manufacturing, research and development to reduce supply chain disruptions, address national security concerns related to foreign PCB production and enhance US economic leadership.

The bill would establishes a financial assistance program, modeled on the CHIPS Act, within the Commerce Department for US facilities manufacturing or researching PCBs.   It also would provide a 25 percent tax credit for entities that purchase US-manufactured PCBs.

“Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are critical components of almost every piece of electronics used today,” Rep. Eshoo said. “However, over the past two decades, a vast majority of PCB manufacturing has moved offshore, making PCBs vulnerable to tampering by foreign adversaries, and only 4 percent of PCBs are manufactured in the United States."

According to industry reports, China accounted for around 52% of world PCB volume in 2020, Taiwan for 11.5%, South Korea for 10.8%, Japan for 8%, and Thailand and Vietnam combined for 6.7%.  Overall,  89% of printed circuit boards came from Asia in 2020. The Americas accounted for 4.9% of total sales, Europe for 3.7%, and the rest of the world for 2.4%.

Production needs to be returned to the United States in order to ensure US technological superiority and strengthen national security, the lawmakers said.A one-page summary of the bill can be found here and the bill text can be found here.