【By Observer News, Chen Sijia】According to Bloomberg, on August 29 local time, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a notice announcing that it will revoke the exemptions for South Korean chipmaker Samsung and SK Hynix allowing their Chinese factories to use U.S. equipment, making it more difficult for the two companies to produce chips in China. The restrictions will take effect after 120 days.

The U.S. Department of Commerce stated in a statement that the U.S. plans to issue licenses to relevant companies allowing them to continue operating existing facilities in China, but will not intend to issue licenses for expanding capacity or upgrading technology, thereby ending the "lenient practice" that only benefited foreign manufacturers without offering similar benefits to U.S. manufacturers.

Jeffrey Kessler, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce for Industry and Security, claimed: "The Trump administration is committed to closing export control loopholes - especially those that put U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage. Today's decision is an important step in fulfilling this commitment."

Bloomberg mentioned that the notice also listed Intel's factory in China, which has been acquired by SK Hynix.

Samsung Electronics factory, photo

In 2022, the U.S. government banned enterprises in the Netherlands, South Korea and other countries and regions from selling advanced process chips and their manufacturing equipment to mainland China. Under lobbying from South Korean companies, Samsung and SK Hynix were granted a one-year exemption from export controls. In 2023, former U.S. President Biden granted the two South Korean companies the status of "Verified End User," allowing them to obtain some U.S. semiconductor manufacturing equipment without license.

Bloomberg pointed out that a large portion of Samsung and SK Hynix's memory chip production capacity depends on China. Bernstein, a U.S. research and brokerage company, stated in a report that the cancellation of the exemption would affect the supply of memory chips, with overseas companies' factories in China accounting for 10% of global computer memory output and 15% of storage chip output.

Reuters said that Samsung has not responded to the U.S. government's notice so far. SK Hynix said in a statement: "We will maintain close communication with the South Korean and U.S. governments and take necessary measures to minimize the impact on our business."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea stated on the 29th that it will strive to reduce the impact on South Korean companies, "the South Korean government has been closely communicating with the U.S. Department of Commerce on possible adjustments to the 'Verified End User' mechanism, and emphasized the importance of the smooth operation of our chip manufacturers' factories in China for maintaining the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain."

Chris Miller, a guest researcher at the U.S. think tank Corporate Research Institute, believes that the new measures of the Trump administration will make it more difficult for South Korean chip manufacturers to produce chips in China, which may drive Chinese domestic enterprises to fill the gap, giving Chinese chip manufacturers greater market space.

China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson previously emphasized that China believes the U.S. should abandon zero-sum thinking and continue to cancel a series of unreasonable trade and economic restrictions against China. Win-win cooperation between China and the United States is the right path, and suppression and containment have no way out.

The spokesperson said, we look forward to the U.S. taking steps in the same direction as China, correcting the wrong practices through equal negotiations, creating a favorable environment for mutual benefit and cooperation between both sides, and jointly maintaining the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain.

This article is an exclusive article by Observer News, and unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544211632252142115/

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