By Rich Cappetto, Senior Director, IPC North American Government Relations  

The most popular and enduring metaphor for the public policy process is sausage-making because it is a messy process with sometimes mysterious and unappealing ingredients. Throughout the year, the IPC Government Relations team keeps an eye on the sausage-making so you don’t have to, although we do need your help in the kitchen. Fortunately, over the last year, we’ve seen evidence that our collaborative efforts are working, setting the table for more progress going forward.  

A series of major actions in the United States in 2024 signaled a trend toward greater support of the domestic electronics industry – building on the remarkably successful year we had in 2023. 

As the Chips and Science Act of 2022 was implemented, IPC urged the U.S. Government to move from a “chips only” approach to a “silicon-to-systems” strategy. As a testament to our growing reputation and influence, IPC’s expertise was increasingly sought out by policymakers as they strategized how to secure supply chains for national defense and critical infrastructure. IPC brought the industry’s voice to the highest levels of the U.S. government on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and across the executive branch at agencies including the departments of Commerce, Labor, and Defense. 

Here are a few of our most notable successes of 2024. 

• Advanced Packaging: The National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) cited IPC’s 2021 report on advanced packaging in the agency’s published strategy to build a domestic advanced packaging ecosystem.

• Defense Industrial Base: The Senate Armed Services Committee included IPC-recommended language in its report on the National Defense Authorization Act, directing the Department of Defense to brief Congress as to how it proposes to close industrial base gaps in electronics manufacturing.

• Defense PCBs: The Senate Appropriations Committee included IPC’s recommended language in its report on the FY25 defense spending bill, allocating $45 million in the Defense Production Act account specifically for printed circuit board manufacturing. The report also encouraged ongoing prioritization of PCB manufacturing and future-year funding.

• Grasstops Advocacy: Six IPC members met with more than 14 congressional offices during Impact Day 2024, including influential Members of the appropriations, commerce, armed services, and tax committees and congressional leadership to advocate for the domestic electronics industry.

• Workforce and CHIPS: IPC CEO John W. Mitchell was invited to represent the electronics industry at a White House roundtable discussion on workforce development and the CHIPS Act with the Director of the National Science Foundation and others.

• Apprenticeship: IPC submitted formal comments to the U.S. Department of Labor, opposing a 700-page regulation that would have added enormous administrative burdens on employers seeking to make use of apprenticeships to build their workforce. The proposed regulation was later withdrawn.

• AI Data Centers: IPC participated in a research project with the U.S. Department of Commerce to identify risks in the supply chain for AI Data Centers. IPC’s report was referenced in the department’s subsequent findings, which recommended federal support to stimulate the domestic PCB and PCB assembly sectors.  

• Government Grants: IPC built the association’s first-ever integrated grants program and applied for nearly $70 million in government funding opportunities to drive workforce growth, secure critical supply chains, and advance domestic manufacturing capabilities. IPC’s grants effort builds on its advocacy by ensuring the organization is positioned to capture the strategic investments that will flow from our policy wins. 

What were the year’s most meaningful U.S. government policy wins to you? 

Rest assured we will continue building on these efforts and relationships in 2025 and beyond, as we do expect a continued focus on building domestic manufacturing and shoring up critical supply chains. 

By Alison James, Senior Director, IPC European Government Relations

As we approach the end of the year, I want to take a moment to share some of the successes we achieved in European advocacy for electronics manufacturing this year. Thanks to tremendous collaboration, IPC and our partners navigated an extraordinary year marked by significant global changes, including a new European Commission and European Parliament, new National Governments in place and in transition, a pending new U.S. administration, and geopolitical and economic upheaval worldwide. 

The industry came together with a stronger, more unified voice for the electronics manufacturing sector, and we have been heard in Brussels and capitals across Europe. Here’s a quick recap of some of the highlights from this year in Europe:

• Heightening recognition by European policymakers: We ramped up our European-level engagement, holding numerous meetings with top policymakers to share our collective priorities. Coalition meetings were held with leaders including the Head of the Cabinet of Margrethe Vestager, now former Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Chief Economic Advisor to Charles Michel, former President of the European Council; and Members of the European Parliament. We also met the Advisor of Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium.
• Uniting behind a European Call to Action: A new IPC report, “Securing the European Union’s Electronics Ecosystem,” highlighted capacity and capability gaps in Europe’s PCB and electronics assembly needs and served as the backdrop for our industry-wide Call to Action for a European Silicon to Systems Electronics Manufacturing Strategy, co-signed by 59 European electronics companies, 17 trade associations across the EU and the European Space Agency. 
• Expanding the electronics conversation in Brussels: We worked with journalists, think tanks, and other key stakeholders to raise awareness of the electronics manufacturing industry's needs. Efforts were strategically aligned with broader discussions on EU industrial priorities and competitiveness, leveraging key milestones such as Mario Draghi's report on the Future of EU Competitiveness. IPC also partnered with the influential media site Euractiv to publish thought-provoking and impactful op-eds.

Growing our European voice online: With our new European LinkedIn and government pages, we’ve reached thousands of influential people in EU circles with compelling content and updates. We also produced two EU-focused videos that tell the stories of advanced packaging and silicon-to-systems. IPC President and CEO John W. Mitchell and I recently sat down to discuss how geopolitics and competitiveness are shaping the new EU term; this conversation is posted on our European government webpage. We continue to see steady growth and engagement with our online content. 

As much as we’ve accomplished, the work ahead is equally important. The new year will bring fresh challenges and opportunities, and together, we must ensure our industry’s voice remains loud and clear in Europe and beyond. We look forward to carrying on our momentum and making 2025 a successful year for Europe’s electronics manufacturers.