South Korea's chief trade judge, Hanshu, said on the 22nd that when he went to the Washington Palace this week to meet with US officials on the third round of technical discussions on taxes, he would raise concerns about the possible imposition of US restrictions on chip manufacturers' Chinese business.
The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as a report earlier this week that US officials have notified Taiwan Electric, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and other world-leading semiconductor companies that the US plans to cancel exemptions that will allow these companies to use US technology in China.
According to Reuters, Yeo Han-koo, director of the Trade Negotiation Department of the Ministry of Trade and Resources, was interviewed before heading to the Chinese government. The reporter asked about the concern that the United States may adopt policy restrictions that prevent foreign chip manufacturers from operating in China. He told the reporter: "I will (to the US) turn the worries of the industry and will do my best to deal with it."
Hanjiu also pointed out that due to the current political and economic uncertainty in the United States, the Seoul agency may not be able to reach a trade agreement before the July deadline. This means trade debates may last until after July 8.
South Korea currently applies 10% tax-related taxes from the US base, and another 25% are subject to 90 days of tax relevance. When the two parties held preliminary discussions in April, they agreed to formulate a trade agreement to reduce taxes by July 8.
Extended reading: US withdraws Taiwan Electric, Samsung, SK Hynix China factory exemption order, slashing US semiconductor stocks