In 5 days, South Korea's semiconductor giants will have to "hand over" a lot of their secret information that has never been published to the US government. On the one hand, the US government that cannot refuse, on the other hand, is the commercial red line that cannot leak customer information, in order to balance the two sides, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix sandwiched in the middle are making a final effort.
The U.S. government wants the global semiconductor giants to submit key information
The troubles of Korean companies originated on September 24 this year. According to Yonhap News Agency reported on November 3, when the U.S. government held a video conference with leaders in the semiconductor industry, saying that in order to restore the semiconductor supply chain, semiconductor companies would have to fill out a questionnaire with 26 questions. These problems range from the daily life of the company to the intervention of the president, including sensitive business information such as sales, major customer orders, inventory, and production increase plans.
At present, neither U.S. companies like Intel nor GM or overseas companies such as TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix have not submitted questionnaires. Kim Kin nam, vice president of Samsung Electronics, said in an interview last month: "We are considering various factors and calmly responding. On October 28, SK Hynix CEO Lee Seok Hee-hee said: "Discussions are underway internally and active communication with the government is being actively conducted. ”
South Korea's "Asia Minor Economy" analysis said that the current attitude of South Korean companies is very cautious, and what they have published is also a principled position, and no one has thought about how to "cross". In this case, if a company intends to submit information first, it is likely to be pressured by other peers.
The Korea Daily also said that the U.S. government's request is "unprecedented", so companies have not yet been able to finalize the scope of disclosure of these core information.
Samsung's semiconductor engineering Image source: Nikkei Chinese
A Korean company in a dilemma
However, as the time limit draws closer, the pressure of the United States is gradually increasing, which makes Korean companies extremely distressed.
On the one hand, the information requested by the United States is too confidential. "Korea Daily" reported that such as the proportion of sales of the top three customers of each product, the supply countermeasures when the demand for specific products is too much, and whether new investments will be made to solve the semiconductor shortage, etc., are all first-level secrets of the company and have not yet been disclosed to investors. Moreover, if the customer's information is leaked, it will not only destroy their relationship with the customer, but also bear huge compensation.
But on the other hand, South Korean companies dare not reject the United States. "Korea Daily" pointed out that the US government ostensibly let companies "autonomously" choose whether to submit information, but in the industry's view, considering the status of the United States, the world's largest semiconductor market, this is actually similar to coercion. Last month, the U.S. government also said: "Enterprises including Intel and SK Hynix plan to disclose information in the near future, and whether these companies will provide it and the quality of the information they provide will determine whether the government will take coercive measures." ”
Some people have analyzed that depending on the situation, the US government may come up with a "defense production law" that is used to determine the inventory of specific items. Because the United States has placed the semiconductor industry on a "safe" level, and has also tried to contain China and reorganize global supply chains, it is almost impossible for individual companies to violate the requirements of the US government. An industry insider also said: "We accept the request of the US government, but the details of disclosure are still under internal discussion." ”
Not only Korean companies, but also TSMC, which is also a semiconductor giant, are also anxious about this, and even "jump left and right". They first stressed twice on September 30 and October 6 that "TSMC will not leak sensitive information", but on October 22, TSMC also said: "Information will be submitted by November 8." ”
Three days later, TSMC changed its tune again, saying: "There is no and will not provide confidential data." ”
South Korean companies turn to the government
On the one hand, the US government, which cannot afford to provoke, and on the other hand, the commercial red line that cannot be touched, the South Korean enterprises sandwiched in the middle are really uncomfortable, and the demand for the South Korean government to display diplomatic capabilities with the United States is getting louder and louder.
According to Yonhap News Agency reported on November 3, the South Korean government has often communicated with domestic companies and the U.S. government to reduce the burden of information submitted by enterprises. The South Korean government plans to formally discuss bilateral cooperation related to the semiconductor supply chain with the U.S. Department of Commerce after the companies submit materials.
This month, South Korea's Minister of Industry, Trade and Resources, Moon Seung-wook, will visit the United States and plan to hold talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raymondo.
According to the report, the two countries cooperate closely in the field of semiconductor supply chain. In May this year, the United States and South Korea held a summit meeting and decided to cooperate to build a stable supply chain for semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries. As one of the steps in the construction, the two sides recently decided to establish a new director-level semiconductor dialogue channel to regularly discuss cooperation issues in the semiconductor field, and also decided to upgrade the existing director-level "U.S.-South Korea Industrial Cooperation Dialogue" level.
A relevant person in charge of the South Korean government said: "We will cooperate with the United States in the entire semiconductor field and plan to switch to the US-South Korea cooperation model to restore the health of the supply chain." ”
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