May 04, 2017 The gathering was especially timely considering President Trump’s recent moves to strengthen U.S. manufacturing, including establishing a new White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and launching a wave of policy initiatives in the areas of taxes, trade, workforce skills, and regulations.
“Our industry is directly in the middle of so many major policy debates,” said John W. Mitchell, president and CEO of IPC, “and that’s why our visit to Washington is so important. The United States is still the world leader in advanced electronics, but it cannot take its leadership for granted. IPC’s Global Policy Framework is aimed at strengthening the foundations of U.S. and global prosperity.”
During the two-and a-half-day event, nearly 30 executives met with members of Congress and leaders of the Trump Administration to share their views on issues including tax reform; federal funding for manufacturing-related research and development programs; environmental policy and conflict minerals regulations.
The electronics executives met with leaders of the Trump Administration including:
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt;
- Earl Comstock, Director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a senior aide to Secretary Wilbur Ross;
- Kim Ford, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education for Career, Technical, and Adult Education,
- Dr. Robert Irie of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
- Alexander Gray, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for Defense Industrial Base, White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy;
- Daris Meeks, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Domestic Policy for Vice President Mike Pence.
Participants also met with key members of Congress including:
- Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs;
- Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD);
- Senator Todd Young (R-IN); and
- Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).
During IMPACT, IPC also recognized two members of Congress with the IPC Government IMPACT Award. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), and Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), both members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, were honored for their bi-partisan leadership in the passage of the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act. In addition to these meetings, IPC arranged meetings for the participants to meet one-on-one with their hometown Congressional representatives.
IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 4,000 member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices in Taos, N.M.; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Brussels, Belgium; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; Bangalore and New Delhi, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing, China. More information and photos will be posted at www.ipc.org/impact-2017.
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