Probably won’t trickle down in any meaningful way for most of us.
But there isn’t a shortage of circuit board manufacturing.
There’s a shortage of demand for overpriced PCBS that cant compete on the market in finished products in the commerical space. Lol
The defense industry has plenty of resources to tap for PCBs domestically …since the government is paying for the end product.
The industrial sector largely would pay for made in USA branded PCBs but it’s the industrial equipment manufacturers that will cut every corner possible and dubiously maintain UL and other certifications to increase margins. Heh
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On a national scale, $50 million is “change that fell into the couch cushions.” But having said that:
- I have no idea whether American technology in PCB fab is non-competitive?
- I do know that some pricing for Chinese made pcbs is amazingly cheap. I don’t think that wages in China are so much lower. I can only think that either the low prices are “loss leaders” and/or the Chinese process is much more highly automated; even for tiny production runs. I am surprised that the price pays for the chemicals needed; forgetting about labor and other materials.
But how much do the chemicals cost to make?
How much obscene greed markup in involved at every stage of every product manufactured?
Maybe some countries don’t price according to that last cent the market can stand at every stage, and don’t use the philosophy of “screw the end user, and everyone else in the chain, right into the ground”?
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They certainly are. There are no tiny production runs just for your job. The minimum number of panels is 5 and each panel contains multiple jobs. It’s only after the panel is cut up that your order becomes individual and packed for posting.
A big PCB plant being built in Penang. Reading between the lines, fear of more trade war barriers with China is driving this. RM1B is about $230M
Let’s see:
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Automation, Chinese shops are big on adopting it quite fast and well. American shops from experience, if they have been around for awhile, actively resist adopting new tech because they only care about their existing customer base that still keeps ordering. American businesses are really bad at reinvesting into their business, short term profit is the name of the game. Especially if it’s a small business where the game plan is just to sell it off and retire. My company has been struggling to find American suppliers because many of them are closing up shop in the “boomer retirement wave” that is in progress.
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Lower wages, somewhat a part of it depending on the size and scale of the PCB shop, you need some technicians or engineers with skill on hand to diagnose and troubleshoot. But it’s an economy of scale problem that isn’t bad once you got orders flowing
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Rent and real estate. A big and quiet driver of inflation and pricing overrun in the US that nobody wants to talk about because it becomes a grim discussion on how broken the economy is. Don’t even get me started about how if you want to rent a commercial property, landlords get very picky with industrial uses. If though you would be liable and have insurance, they don’t want you to ■■■■ up the property with chemicals, fires, etc and have to deal with it at all. My company produces electronics but we actively had numerous landlords reject our attempts to lease a 3rd building because they were afraid of fires.
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Chemicals honestly are cheap for PCB manufacture. The biggest concern in the US will be having to comply with safe handling and waste disposal regulations far more strictly than they would in China. Basically, it is the right thing to do but the waste disposal companies will ream you.
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The problem is that the cost will affect the demand for the construction of one even two factories to China is not a competitor… The only thing they will do is delay tariffs on Chinese products and you will have to buy domestically
It’s always interesting to see how politics and policies impact various industries. I came across an article discussing how President Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to support printed circuit board production in the US. This move aims to strengthen the country’s manufacturing capabilities.
Speaking of politics, I recently stumbled upon one website. Basically, it’s a platform where you can express your thoughts and opinions about politics, particularly the upcoming elections. It’s a great place to engage with others who share similar interests and perspectives. If you enjoy discussing political matters, you might find it worth checking out. Here’s the link: https://www.politiq.net/US_President_Election_2024
Circuit boards for military or state companies have nothing to do with small firms and amateur radio operators… The price of such boards will fly into space…
I compared prices of pcb’s between China and UK.
The UK prices can be 5-10 times as much.
Strange someone half way around the world can do it cheaper and better than someone local.
As mostly a hobbyist I won’t even pretend to address quality differences, but…
Easy to see why. It’s a numbers game. How many UK manfacturers are going to get PCB’s made vs how many in China.
This applies not only to boards, but also to all electronics in general… Since 2000, all production has left for China… For example, I have an old allen-heath remote control made in Britain it is very good and has been working for more than 20 years))) what can not be said about modern Chinese of this company))
Seeing we’ve strayed off topic,
This is more an example of planned obsolescence: designed for a working life.
Two ways to keep selling new products, advertise bigger and better or make the old ones too difficult and too expensive to repair.
The electronics industry seriously catches both. It is sad to think of all those perfectly good components that cost energy to create that have been consigned to landfill or pulverised to contribute to that feelgood, but ineffective, term “recycled”. 
Labour in China is cheaper than in Britain.
Not quite like that… Board production is 90-95 percent automation without human input… I can assume that there was no normal investment in production…
If your company is subsidized you can offer lower prices, simple economics. is the same for Europe, the US, China and the rest of Asia.
There is an export rebates policy in China.
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