Commentary:

It's not just Wal-Mart suppliers moving to China

From E.E. Times:

With eye on China, DoD task force warns of IC drain

A Pentagon report amplifies growing concerns about the migration of semiconductor manufacturing from the U.S. to Asia, warning that the "alarming" rate of the shift to countries like China threatens U.S. national and economic security.

The report by the Defense Science Board, a Pentagon advisory board made up of industry executives, academics and former DoD officials, said its greatest concern centered on diminishing sources of supply for microelectronics for military and intelligence applications.

"We urge greater than usual speed in implementing the recommendations of our study," William Howard, chairman of the Defense Science Board's Task Force on High Performance Microchip Supply, told military planners in a letter accompanying the report.

The group's primary conclusion was that DoD and its suppliers "face a major integrated circuit supply dilemma that threatens the security and integrity of classified and sensitive circuit design information, the superiority and correct functioning of electronic systems, system reliability, continued supply of long system-life and special technology components."

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A key subtext for the report is the rise of China's semiconductor industry and its growing regional power. U.S. export controls have emerged as a major issue in flow of semiconductor technology to China. But experts said those controls are uneven at best.

But...

There is a certain level of manufacturing we MUST keep in the US to ensure that we can keep both our economy and our military healthy.

China is a strategic competitor of the US, probably the most dangerous in the long-term, and that long-term is starting to appear more medium-term rather than a distant future.

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