Overview
- President Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 25% tariff on certain advanced AI semiconductors re-exported from the United States, initially targeting Nvidia and AMD products.
- The presidential office said it will invoke a Korea–U.S. “no less favorable” clause and has launched emergency consultations with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
- Officials are reviewing the U.S.–Taiwan arrangement that linked roughly $500 billion in pledged investment, including $250 billion by TSMC, to a tariff-free semiconductor import quota.
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned memory producers to build in the United States or face a 100% tariff, and Korean officials caution a second wave of measures is possible.
- Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said the immediate impact on Korean firms is limited because memory chips are excluded, as Seoul prepares negotiating positions anchored by current U.S. investments in Taylor, Texas, and Indiana.