According to South Korea’s presidential office and the firms, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would be able to send U.S. semiconductor equipment to their China operations indefinitely without further U.S. licences.

The United States was anticipated to extend a waiver given to South Korean chipmakers on the requirement for licences to bring US chip equipment into China.

“Uncertainties about South Korean semiconductor firms’ operations and investments in China have been greatly eased; they will be able to calmly seek long-term global management strategies,” said Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs.

According to Choi, the US has already notified Samsung and SK Hynix of the judgement, indicating that it is in effect.

The US Department of Commerce is amending its “validated end user” list, which indicates which firms can receive technology exports, to allow Samsung and SK Hynix to continue sending some U.S. chipmaking tools to their China plants, according to the presidential office.

Once on the list, there is no need to get clearance for individual export cases.

The world’s largest and second-largest memory chipmakers, Samsung and SK Hynix, had invested billions of dollars in their chip production facilities in China and applauded the move.

“Through close coordination with relevant governments, uncertainties related to the operation of our semiconductor manufacturing lines in China have been significantly removed,” Samsung said in a statement.

“We welcome the U.S. government’s decision to extend a waiver with regard to the export control regulations. We believe the decision will contribute to the stabilisation of the global semiconductor supply chain,” SK Hynix said.

Samsung Electronics manufactures approximately 40% of its NAND flash chips in Xian, China, while SK Hynix manufactures approximately 40% of its DRAM chips in Wuxi and 20% of its NAND flash chips in Dalian.

According to TrendForce data, the corporations controlled roughly 70% of the worldwide DRAM industry and 50% of the NAND flash market as of the end of June.

(Adapted from ChannelNewsAsia.com)

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