Korean Media: AMAT was fined 250 million US dollars by the U.S. Department of Commerce for exporting chip equipment to China in South Korea

On the 11th, according to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, due to the illegal export of U.S.-made chip manufacturing equipment to China, it has decided to impose a fine of 250 million U.S. dollars (approximately 36 billion Korean won) on "Applied Materials (AMAT)" and its South Korean subsidiary "Applied Materials Korea" (AMK). AMAT is headquartered in California, USA, and is a world-class chip and advanced industry equipment company that has entered the South Korean market. This is the second highest fine ever imposed by BIS.

According to BIS, AMAT has been exporting chip manufacturing equipment - ion implanters - to SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), the largest foundry in China. Since 2020, SMIC has been listed on the U.S. Department of Commerce's export control list. However, between 2021 and 2022, AMAT sent this equipment to AMK in South Korea for assembly and then exported it to China, without fulfilling the obligation to obtain government permission, violating export control regulations as many as 56 times. The U.S. export control regulations also apply to cases where goods are re-exported through other countries. It is reported that the equipment illegally exported to China by AMAT and AMK through the above method is worth approximately 126 million U.S. dollars.

The United States imposes strict export controls on U.S.-made chips and manufacturing equipment to prevent advanced chip technology from flowing into China. During the Biden administration, it had previously asked major chip equipment manufacturing countries such as South Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands to participate in the control measures. BIS said that according to this agreement, AMAT confirmed that it would supervise its own export control compliance program and would no longer employ employees and executives who were responsible for illegal exports. Currently, many chip equipment companies have entered South Korea, serving customers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original: toutiao.com/article/1857275198741504/

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