{"id":52977,"date":"2021-04-28T18:02:45","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T18:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/28\/hawley-bill-would-spotlight-chinese-electronics-at-defense-firms\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:48:14","slug":"hawley-bill-would-spotlight-chinese-electronics-at-defense-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2021\/04\/28\/hawley-bill-would-spotlight-chinese-electronics-at-defense-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawley bill would spotlight Chinese electronics in defense systems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Defense contractors would be required to tell the Pentagon if China, Russia, Iran and North Korea made any of the printed circuit boards in systems they were supplying, under legislation Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PCBetter Act would also establish a 10-year electronics supply chain<\/a> fund of an unspecified size aimed at strengthening U.S. manufacturing of electronics and supporting implementation of supply chain security initiatives, according to a fact sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That step would likely be seen as a boon to the American electronics industry, which says the number of U.S. companies that make circuit boards has atrophied from 1,500 in 2000 to fewer than 200 today, with most manufactured in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coronavirus pandemic woke up Washington to how many of the country\u2019s supply chains moved overseas, sparking President Joe Biden to order his administration to submit reports on supply chain risks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChinese printed circuit boards pose a serious threat to the integrity of America\u2019s defense systems,\u201d Hawley, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cIt is imperative that we give the Department of Defense the tools it needs to secure its printed circuit board supply chains, so that our warfighters can have full confidence in the weapons they rely on to protect our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea behind a spate of new laws to target the use of Chinese technologies by defense contractors has been to lessen U.S. dependence on electronics from China, which is seen as a strategic rival that could use sabotage or hack American systems. However, those same laws have saddled the defense industry with a raft of requirements it sees as costly and cumbersome<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new bill would require contractors, when they supply the DoD with an IT system, to provide a list of each printed circuit board, attesting to whether it was made in a covered country or not \u2015 or if the provider could not make a determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also establish a testing, remediation and prevention regime to address vulnerabilities in IT systems that contain or may contain printed circuit boards made in those countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\t