The US is likely to impose a limit on the chip production capabilities of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. in China, a senior American official said, as Washington works with allies to curb Beijing’s access to cutting-edge technologies.
(Bloomberg) — The US is likely to impose a limit on the chip production capabilities of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. in China, a senior American official said, as Washington works with allies to curb Beijing’s access to cutting-edge technologies.
“We’re working with those companies on the way forward there,” Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said at a think tank event Thursday in response to a question about South Korean chipmakers’ trade with China. “What it’ll likely be is a cap on the levels they can grow to in China.”
South Korean companies won a one-year reprieve from sweeping US export controls unveiled in October that prevent chipmakers from bringing in equipment for their advanced facilities in China. Without a license extension, it is unclear how Samsung and Hynix would proceed — both depend on China as a key market and a manufacturing site for their memory chips.
“If you’re at whatever layer of NAND, we’ll stop it somewhere in that range,” Estevez added, referring to a type of memory chips used in electronic devices including smartphones and servers. “It’ll depend on what the Chinese are doing too.”
He didn’t specify the precise level of chip technology at which the US would seek a cap.
The under secretary also said that the US and South Korea started a working group on export controls in November, without elaborating on the degree of collaboration between Washington and Seoul.
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