‘US government wants South Korea to restrict exports of chip machines to China’ – Computer – News

The United States government wants South Korea to stop exporting machines to make advanced chips to China, reports financial news agency Bloomberg. The US wants to ensure that China does not become bigger in the global chip market.

The US is asking whether South Korea wants to stop exporting machines and raw materials for chips smaller than 14nm and memory modules of 18nm and smaller, Bloomberg reports based on its own sources. This corresponds to measures that the United States previously took against China. According to the sources, the US discussed the issue extensively with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in March. The country would like to reach an agreement before the G7 summit in mid-June.

South Korea includes chip manufacturers Samsung and SK Hynix, both big names in the field of chip and memory production. In the field of chip machines, South Korea is less prominent than, for example, the Netherlands, the United States or Japan, although the country also supplies semiconductor production equipment with Hanmi Semiconductor and Jusung Engineering. South Korea is the second-largest exporter of chip manufacturing parts and materials to China after Japan, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy claims.

Conversely, China is a major sales market for South Korea. The South Korean government of the country is therefore hesitant to comply with the request. The US has long been trying to isolate China in the global chip market, because it fears the country’s dominance in that area. There has been a trade ban for American companies with Chinese companies for years and the Dutch ASML has now also been restricted from trading with China. China, South Korea and the US did not respond to the message.