Biden’s State of the Union Address Touches on Issues of Importance to Electronics Manufacturing
By Chris Mitchell and Rich Cappetto, IPC Government Relations Team
Although politics and theater may have permeated President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday night, there were several points when the substantive interests of the electronics manufacturing industry were mentioned, from the CHIPS program to Buy American to the skilled workforce and corporate taxes.
On the CHIPS for America program, he said, “the United States is investing more in research and development than ever before;” private companies are investing billions of dollars” in new manufacturing capacity; and “tens of thousands” of well-paying jobs are being created, many of which won’t require a college degree.
IPC is urging a holistic approach to the electronics supply chain, including chips but also adjacent manufacturing capabilities such as printed circuit boards (PCBs), advanced packaging, IC substrates, and electronic assemblies. We’re having to fight for our appropriate share of attention, but we do welcome the emphasis on building a more robust, resilient electronics ecosystem in the United States and around the world.
On workforce issues, Biden recalled once speaking with a group of CEOs who told him their greatest need was “a better educated workforce.” He challenged them to do more workforce education and training themselves.
In fact, IPC has been the leading provider of education and training in the electronics industry for years, working directly with our members, with little or no support from government. We now credential more than 120,000 people per year to work in electronics manufacturing jobs, and we recently secured U.S. Department of Labor approval for two new registered apprenticeship programs.
Creating career pathways at scale is the key to addressing our industry’s workforce challenge, and IPC is doing it. Indeed, we’re a prime example of industry doing its part. That said, targeted investments from government would increase the scale and speed of these programs to meet the need to train tens of thousands of workers in the next five years.
On another front, we were concerned to hear about a proposed increase in the minimum tax on corporate income. IPC supports the current corporate income tax rate as it levels the playing field with other countries and provides greater opportunities for companies to invest in R&D and in their workforce.
You can read the script for yourself via WhiteHouse.gov or a variety of websites, and you may be interested in a White House online briefing on their economic agenda on Monday, March 11 at 10:30 am ET, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Please let us know: What did you think about the President’s policy agenda and how it will affect our industry?