PCBAA at Work While Congress is on Vacation
Reviving the domestic electronics manufacturing infrastructure is a round-the-clock job.
While Congress spent August in recess, PCBAA executive director David Schild never quite made it to Ocean City. He said that the association’s work in Washington never slowed down.
“A lot of people take a vacation in August,” Schild laughs. “I’m just not one of them.”
PCBAA has been actively engaging federal agencies – including the FCC, Department of Transportation, National Security Council, and Department of Commerce – on issues ranging from tariff impacts to advancing an executive order supporting American-made PCB purchasing.
Schild points to a few results from this lobbying, including the Defense Production Act funding that helped support facility investments at companies like Calumet Electronics (Michigan), GreenSource Fabrication (New Hampshire), and TTM Technologies (Wisconsin). He says bringing lawmakers directly into PCB facilities is a core educational tactic, citing a recent visit with Rep. Joe Courtney to TTM’s Stafford Springs facility, tied to Connecticut’s submarine supply chain.
On the legislative side, Schild has been busy with the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates Act (H.R. 3597 / S. 4569), which requires coordination across multiple committees because the bill includes tax provisions. He notes that PCBAA has bills active in the US House and Senate and is working to build co-sponsor support.
A major near-term focus is Section 851 rulemaking, which would prohibit dual-use and commercial off-the-shelf technologies from containing PCBs from Russia, Iran, North Korea or China in defense supply chains starting January 1, 2027. PCBAA and its member companies have submitted public comments urging the Pentagon to implement the rule on schedule without dilution or delay. The public comment period closed August 31.
Looking ahead, Schild sees the defense budget, the National Defense Authorization Act, and potential future tax legislation (a possible “Reconciliation 3.0”) as key items to watch this fall, alongside the November elections and subsequent lame-duck session. He believes that PCBAA’s bipartisan support base means the association’s priorities will remain stable regardless of which party controls Congress.
He notes growing interest from AI design firms, and draws a comparison to the Chips Act, arguing the PCB industry needs similar critical-technology recognition and federal investment.
“If we didn’t go to Washington and plead our case, we were never going to get what the semiconductor companies got with the Chips Act. Federal policies that level the playing field and make us globally competitive,” says Schild.
He also highlights PCBAA’s membership growth, which has climbed to 92 members from five in the past five years.
“But I’d like to be at 192, or 292,” says Schild.
He explains how PCBAA membership literally puts each company on the map in Washington, DC.
“When you join PCBAA, you’re a dot on the map for one member of the House and two US senators,” Schild says. “And you now have a communications and advocacy shop in Washington working for you, so you can focus on P&L and production.”
Building that domestic supply chain is at the core of what PCBAA is working toward: growing printed circuit board and PCB assembly capacity in the US, restoring capabilities that have eroded, and reclaiming strategic independence in the electronics hardware space.
PCBAA is driving this forward through policy advocacy, industry engagement, and by backing domestic investment and partnership efforts.
To learn more, visit pcbaa.org.End of article content
Dan Beaulieu is a longtime management consultant to the printed circuit industry and a member of the PCBAA; danbbeaulieu@aol.com.