My congressional district was named for the supplies that semiconductors are made from — Silicon Valley. However though chips at the moment are present in all the pieces from smartwatches to fighter jets, few semiconductors are made within the valley or anyplace in the US.
Thirty years in the past, the US manufactured practically 40% of all semiconductor chips, however as we speak we produce solely 12%. The business’s provide chains are fragile, leaving our financial system and nationwide safety weak to disruption by adversarial international governments and provide chain shocks, and we skilled this firsthand all through the pandemic and over the previous few years with the shortage of the merchandise we depend on.
To revitalize our home semiconductor business, Congress handed the CHIPS and Science Act final 12 months, and final week, the Home of Representatives constructed on that funding by passing my bipartisan invoice, the Securing Semiconductor Provide Chains Act. This invoice will be certain that the federal government develops methods to draw funding in semiconductors right here in the US to carry our nation again to No. 1 on this planet in semiconductor manufacturing and to keep up our management in technological innovation.
Whereas these payments are wanted to cut back our reliance on international producers and increase home funding, chips are only one supply of vulnerability within the microelectronics provide chain. Chips sit on printed circuit boards (PCBs), essential and sophisticated elements of just about every bit of electronics used as we speak. All chips are mounted on PCBs, which permit them to speak with the techniques they energy. At present, as with semiconductors, China dominates PCB manufacturing, creating 45% of PCBs globally, whereas the U.S. market share is barely 4%.
From my close to decade of service on the Home Intelligence Committee, I do know firsthand the vulnerabilities of foreign-made merchandise in our provide chains and the dangers of foreign-made merchandise embedded within the expertise that powers all the pieces from the medical units that hold us wholesome to the navy gear our servicemembers depend on to guard our nation. This dependence on international suppliers provides our adversaries the chance to compromise our telephones, computer systems and different electronics by inserting malicious elements into PCBs.
That’s why I’m proud to paved the way on investing in PCBs and why I launched the bipartisan Defending Circuit Boards and Substrates Act. My invoice is modeled on the CHIPS program for semiconductors by offering incentives for the PCB and substrate industries to put money into home PCB manufacturing services. These new services will help hundreds of high-quality jobs and assist prepare staff throughout the nation, all whereas bringing PCB manufacturing again to the U.S.
The passage of my Securing Semiconductor Provide Chains Act this Congress and the CHIPS and Science Act final Congress are vital achievements for the US. I’m happy with that work. However we’d like investments throughout the whole microelectronics ecosystem. My Defending Circuit Boards Act is a essential step on this path, and I’m dedicated to bringing this business again to our nation and again to the valley named after these merchandise.
Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, represents District 16 in the US Home of Representatives.
