The US is likely to impose a limit on the chip production capabilities of Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc in China, a senior US official said, as Washington works with allies to curb Beijing’s access to cutting-edge technologies.
“We’re working with those companies on the way forward there,” US Undersecretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said at a think tank event on Thursday.
“What it’ll likely be is a cap on the levels they can grow to in China,” he said.
Photo: Bloomberg
South Korean companies won a one-year reprieve from sweeping US export controls unveiled in October last year that prevent chipmakers from bringing in equipment for their advanced facilities in China.
Without a license extension, it is unclear how Samsung and Hynix would proceed — as they are depend on China as a key market and a manufacturing site for their memory chips.
“If you’re at whatever layer of NAND, we’ll stop it somewhere in that range,” Estevez said, referring to a type of memory chips used in electronic devices including smartphones and servers.
“It’ll depend on what the Chinese are doing too,” he added.
He did not specify the precise level of chip technology at which the US would seek a cap.
The US and South Korea started a working group on export controls in November last year, he said, without elaborating on the degree of collaboration between Washington and Seoul.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS