GEPC launches against a backdrop of escalating policy pressure on the electronics industry, including tariff volatility, export controls, and competing domestic investment mandates. The Global Electronics Association‘s own trade flows research underscores the urgency: global electronics trade totaled $4.5 trillion in 2023, with supply chains more globally interdependent than any other industry. That interdependence makes coordinated advocacy not just useful, but essential.
“No single company or country can navigate this environment alone,” said Thomas Cetta, Senior Vice President, Jabil and chairperson of the GEPC. “The Global Electronics Policy Council gives the industry the structure and discipline to speak with one voice on the challenges that matter most and to engage governments with the credibility and accountability that comes from real organizational commitment,” he explained.
A council built for action, not just alignment
Unlike informal industry coalitions, the Global Electronics Policy Council is governed by formal bylaws, a defined leadership structure, and regional execution arms spanning North America, Europe, East Asia, and India/Southeast Asia. The Council will produce an approved global policy agenda and annual advocacy plan, issue formal policy positions and testimony, and deliver quarterly reporting on government engagement activity.
Inaugural members of the council represent a deliberately balanced cross-section of the electronics value chain. They include AT&S, Flex, Jabil, Plexus, TSMC, and TTM Technologies.
“As a world-leading high-tech manufacturer of IC substrates and printed circuit boards, we are proud to join the Global Electronics Policy Council (GEPC),” said Matthias Pirs, Director Corporate Affairs & Authorized Officer AT&S. He added: “This new body will foster global and regional dialogue between industry and policymakers to align on the needs of complex, interconnected microelectronics ecosystems. These systems are being rapidly reshaped by AI and rising compute demand, with a growing focus on system-level performance that requires access to global value chains across regions, technologies, and right policy frameworks.”
A clear and ambitious policy framework
The Council‘s advocacy will be organized around five priorities drawn from the Global Electronics Association‘s 2026 Policy Agenda: safeguarding predictable access to global markets; investing in domestic manufacturing capacity and capability; building robust workforce pipelines for the electronics industry; supporting industry-led technical and sustainability standards while rightsizing regulation; and accelerating technology leadership through collaborative R&D. Regional councils will execute against this global framework.
“The GEPC reinforces an essential aspect of our industry: a strong, connected global electronics manufacturing community,” said Chris Mitchell, VP Global Government Relations, Global Electronics Association. “This Council will advance a policy agenda that strengthens supply-chain resilience, accelerates innovation, and secures trusted access to global markets for the 3,200+ member companies.”
