Samsung, SK hynix face U.S. curbs on China operations as waiver ends

Samsung Electronics' chip facilities in Xi'an, China [JOONGANG ILBO]

 
The United States will revoke a waiver that has allowed Korean chipmakers to import certain semiconductor technologies into China, dealing a major blow to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, both of which maintain large production bases there.
 
Korea’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy confirmed the decision late Friday, saying affected companies will have a 120-day grace period.  
“Once Validated End-User (VEU) status is withdrawn, Korean firms must obtain individual export licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce to bring U.S.-origin advanced semiconductor equipment into their facilities in China,” the ministry said in a statement.

 

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Washington first granted the waiver in October 2022, giving the two companies leeway to operate their memory chip plants in China — the only overseas memory chip sites for both firms and a growing flashpoint in U.S.–China tech rivalry. Their U.S. investments focus on logic chips and packaging facilities.

 
The Korean government and chipmakers had urged the United States to maintain the measure.
 
Samsung’s two plants in Xi’an account for about 35 percent of its NAND flash output, while SK hynix’s Wuxi facility produces around 40 percent of its DRAM chips.  
 
Under rules announced in 2022, U.S. export controls make it virtually impossible to supply Chinese factories with technologies used to manufacture DRAM at 18 nanometers or below and NAND with 128 layers or more.

 

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]