The U.S. Donald Trump administration is reportedly considering a plan to conditionally allow the export of American-made equipment to the semiconductor plants of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in China.
Bloomberg News reported on the 7th (local time), citing sources, that the U.S. Department of Commerce proposed to the Korean government a method for approving annual equipment export volumes for Korean semiconductor plants in China. This is seen as a measure to replace the existing indefinite exemption status and alleviate uncertainties regarding the operations of both companies' Chinese plants.
Samsung and SK hynix have been included in the 'Verified End User' (VEU) list of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, allowing them to import American-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment without separate approval. VEU is a system that exceptionally allows equipment supply to corporations that meet certain security requirements. However, recently, the Trump administration excluded Samsung and SK hynix's Chinese plants from the VEU list, raising concerns about production disruptions in the region.
Accordingly, the U.S. government is considering a plan to approve equipment exports annually after a separate review instead of maintaining the VEU system. If the new system is implemented, both companies can continue operations at their Chinese plants, but there are concerns that the administrative burden may increase as they must go through the approval process each year. In particular, due to the nature of semiconductor equipment, it is difficult to predict potential failures that could occur within the next 12 months, raising the possibility of disruptions in the supply of necessary parts.
Additionally, even if the U.S. government allows equipment exports, it is reported that it plans to prohibit the export of equipment that can be used for new expansions or upgrades of the plants in China. This is interpreted as an intention to curb the advancement of China's advanced semiconductor technologies.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea did not respond to requests for comments. SK hynix also did not provide an immediate response.