Under pressure of "tariffs if not made in the US"... Government and Samsung-SK Hynix 'grapple'

Under pressure of "tariffs if not made in the US"... Government and Samsung-SK Hynix 'grapple'

Samsung and SK Hynix already investing trillions of won... Industry: "Complex variables"

As the U.S. administration under Donald Trump announced targeted tariffs on foreign-made semiconductors, the domestic semiconductor industry and the government are closely monitoring the situation with tension.

However, there are also observations that imposing tariffs in a situation of severe memory semiconductor supply shortages would ultimately force American companies and consumers to bear the burden, making it difficult to materialize immediately.

According to industry sources on the 3rd, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick appeared on CNBC on the 2nd (local time) and announced the policy of introducing a 'targeted and carefully designed tariff policy' for semiconductors.

In particular, he made it clear that investment in production facilities within the U.S. would be directly linked to tariff reductions.

Secretary Lutnick stated, "If you build manufacturing facilities in the U.S., you will receive tariff reduction benefits, and if you don't, you will have to pay tariffs to enter the world's largest market."

He continued, saying, "Semiconductors will be produced in the U.S.," citing Taiwan's TSMC and U.S. Micron, which are building large-scale semiconductor production facilities in Arizona, as examples.

This is a strategy to attract investment from global semiconductor companies to the U.S. by reducing tariff burdens for companies expanding their production facilities within the U.S., while imposing high tariffs on companies that do not engage in local production.

The Trump administration has warned since last year that it would impose semiconductor tariffs. This is due to the perception that Korean and Taiwanese companies manufacturing memory semiconductors are the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and others are closely monitoring the situation, as the U.S.'s policy of imposing targeted semiconductor tariffs is consistent with the Trump administration's existing stance, and are also considering ways to partially adjust their ongoing investments in the U.S.

An industry official said, "It appears the Trump administration is trying to escalate the pressure again," adding, "However, if tariffs are imposed, it could ultimately harm America's own domestic industries, so the variables are more complex than thought."

Another semiconductor industry official also responded, saying, "There is nothing specific to discuss at the moment," and "We are monitoring the progress."

Samsung Electronics is already constructing a foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) plant in Taylor, Texas, U.S., and is expanding its production base in the U.S., including planning the groundbreaking of its second foundry plant (Taylor Fab 2) at the end of this year.

SK Hynix is also investing $4 billion to build an advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging production base in Indiana, U.S., and is keeping open the possibility of additional investments within the U.S.

The industry views Secretary Lutnick's recent remarks as an extension of the 'Made in USA' policy that the U.S. has been accelerating.

It is analyzed that the purpose is to encourage semiconductor production within the U.S. to benefit domestic big tech customers while reviving domestic manufacturing, aligning with the trend that the Trump administration has emphasized through various policies.

The government assesses that the U.S.'s moves are not yet at the stage of concrete action.

An official from the Ministry of Industry said, "The current global memory semiconductor supply shortage continues, so if tariffs are imposed, the burden of unit costs for demanding companies within the U.S. will increase, creating an atmosphere where local companies also do not want this," adding, "We are closely monitoring related trends."