Kevin O'Hanlon's Top Three Reads: When Policy Meets Reality
Key Summary
Kevin O'Hanlon, writing from Washington, D.C., examines the growing disconnect between U.S. policy ambitions and manufacturing realities across three critical areas: global oil price volatility driven by the Iran conflict, America's push to lead in AI exports despite domestic data center manufacturing gaps, and the FCC's complicated effort to ban foreign-made consumer routers on national security grounds. His takeaway: good policy intent isn't enough when the supporting infrastructure doesn't yet exist.
By Kevin O’Hanlon, VP, North American Government Relations
From my perch in Washington, D.C., I see every headline through a policy lens, and right now, the gap between policy intent and on-the-ground reality is widening. This week’s picks spotlight that disconnect and why it matters for U.S. manufacturing and the electronics ecosystem.
Oil is Liquid Gold – Until It Isn’t
As the Iran conflict enters its third month, global oil prices continue to rise. News from Europe suggests that the manufacturing sector is starting to suffer not from the price of oil, but from the oil derivative price increases. As we look to strengthen U.S. domestic manufacturing, it’s worth exploring how we can future-proof against volatility.
U.S. is not the 'manufacturing powerhouse' it once was. During the Iran war, that's a good thing.
Remind Me What We’re Exporting?
The U.S. is an undisputed leader in technology development. Our intellectual property laws are second to none, which leads to some of the foremost research and development globally. As the Trump Administration looks to extend the country’s leadership on artificial intelligence, it raises an important concern: we can build parts of data centers, but we can’t manufacture the entirety of a data center in the U.S. Should we be focused on domestic capacity building before aiming to export leadership?
White House postpones executive order on AI
Made in the U.S.A. – One Router at a Time
In March, an interagency task force, including the Department of War, Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), identified consumer routers as a risk to national security. Since then, we have been on a policy roller coaster trying to balance national security against the reality of manufacturing capabilities. The evolution of the FCC’s guidance to consumers and the subsequent policy changes highlight the disconnect between well-intentioned policy and reality.
The FCC's Foreign-Made Router Ban Gets Complicated. What You Need to Know