South Korean chipmakers have actively lobbied the U.S. government to obtain permission to supply chips to Huawei and others

Abstract: On January 4, 2022, according to the Financial Times, in order to continue to supply chips to Chinese companies subject to US trade sanctions, the industry reported that South Korean chip companies have gone to Washington, D.C., to lobby vigorously, hoping to win key export licenses.

On January 4, 2022, according to the Financial Times, in order to continue to supply chips to Chinese companies subject to US trade sanctions, the industry reported that South Korean chip companies have gone to Washington, D.C., to lobby vigorously, hoping to win key export licenses.

According to the news, Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group and LG, the four major South Korean chaebols, are the main lobbies, and they have agreed to go to the United States to produce strategic sensitive goods such as semiconductors and car batteries after putting pressure on Washington. A senior LG Energy Solution executive revealed that the company is trying to recruit Americans who have contacts with Washington and strengthen ties with the U.S. government and Congress.

According to the report, these South Korean-related companies want to obtain export licenses to supply Chinese companies that are on the "entity list" by the United States, including Huawei and SMIC. According to previous information, the U.S. Department of Commerce has approved more than $103 billion of export licenses for Huawei and SMIC between November 9, 2020 and April 2021.

SK Hynix set up an internal unit in January dedicated to U.S. operations to close the $9 billion acquisition of Intel Corp.'s NAND flash memory division. Analysts said that after the upgrade of Micron's Xi'an DRAM plant was blocked, SK Hynix is now considering going to the United States to build a fab. The United States has blocked the export of advanced semiconductor equipment to China in recent years.

In December 2021, Samsung Electronics also assigned a senior executive of the president level to the United States for the first time to lead the device solutions division. Samsung plans to build a $17 billion fab in Taylor, Texas. TSMC, on the other hand, has hired Nicholas Montella, a former senior executive at the U.S. Department of Commerce, as director of government relations in 2021, and Peter Cleveland, a former chief lobbyist at Intel, as vice president of global policy and legal affairs in 2019.

Editor: Xin ZhiXun - Lin Zi