US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market.
The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time.
The move would revise what is known as the validated end user (VEU) rules, handicapping the ability to make chips in the country and jeopardizing Beijing’s access to certain technologies.
Photo: Bloomberg
The waivers date back to 2023, when then-US president Joe Biden’s administration moved to allow the chipmakers to acquire the equipment they need to sustain and expand their operations in China. Washington had effectively granted an indefinite waiver on broader restrictions banning the shipment of advanced chipmaking gear to the country.
The department said that it has no intention of granting licenses that would allow companies to “expand capacity or upgrade technology” at manufacturing facilities in China, and indicated that the move was intended to end a break that it saw as aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers.
“The Trump administration is committed to closing export control loopholes — particularly those that put US companies at a competitive disadvantage,” said US Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffrey Kessler, who oversees export control programs. “Today’s decision is an important step toward fulfilling this commitment.”
The companies have 120 days until the waiver expires, an announcement in the US Federal Register showed. Companies could seek licenses to continue operations. The notice also listed a unit of Intel Corp that has since been acquired by SK Hynix.
Samsung and SK Hynix rely on China for a sizeable portion of their memory chip production capacity. They make components that are incorporated into smartphones and consumer electronics assembled in the country.
The US decision emerged days after Trump met South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the White House. In their meeting on Monday, they discussed a recently sealed agreement that set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15 percent, sparing the country from the 25 percent that Trump had threatened.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Friday said that it would work to minimize disruption for the country’s businesses.
“The government has been closely communicating with the US Department of Commerce on possible adjustments to the VEU system, stressing the importance of smooth operations of our chipmakers’ Chinese facilities for global semiconductor supply chain stability,” the ministry said.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
RSS