Overview
- President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing roughly 25 percent tariffs on certain high‑performance AI chips re-exported from the U.S., with officials also flagging potential broader semiconductor tariffs and a critical minerals review.
- Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Korean firms face limited immediate impact because memory chips are not targeted, while cautioning that a second phase could expand the scope.
- South Korea’s presidential office said it will consult Washington under the Korea–U.S. Joint Fact Sheet to ensure treatment no less favorable than that given to other major economies.
- The government began emergency consultations with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and is scrutinizing the U.S.–Taiwan framework as a benchmark, including investment-linked tariff exemptions tied to TSMC’s U.S. buildout.
- U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned foreign chipmakers to either pay steep tariffs or build in America, a message that looms over Samsung’s Texas foundry project and SK hynix’s planned Indiana packaging plant.