SK Hynix to seek further exemption from US chip curbs against China

SOUTH Korea’s SK Hynix will ask the United States for a year’s further exemption from chip curbs against China, the chief executive of the world’s No 2 maker of memory chips said on Wednesday (Mar 29).

The company will seek the exemption after the current grace period ends in October, chief executive Park Jung-ho told reporters at the annual general meeting of shareholders in South Korea.

“Talks between the Korea and the US governments should go well,” he said. “From our end, we will also buy time and adjust our management plan. We will again apply for an extension when the one-year authorisation expires.”

In October last year, SK Hynix said it had received authorisation from the US commerce department for a year to supply equipment needed for chip production in facilities in China, without seeking additional licensing requirements.

The United States announced curbs on exports of chip-making equipment to China, requiring licenses for US companies to export advanced chips and chip-making equipment in a bid to slow China’s technological advance.

On Wednesday, the company said it would pursue previously announced plans to build an advanced chip packaging plant in the United States as the review process ends.

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It added that it was reviewing whether to apply for subsidies under the US Chips Act.

Last month the Biden administration said it would require companies winning US$52.7 billion of available funds from the Chips Act to share excess profits and explain how they planned to provide affordable childcare.

The measure has a key role in the US government’s effort to bring home semiconductor manufacturing, and its success is vital to US ambitions to keep ahead of China in global markets. REUTERS