South Korean electronics giants have been granted permission for easier US chip equipment exports to China

South Korean tech giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be permitted to supply their chip equipment units to their Chinese factories. This could now be processed without any separate U.S. approval.

An extended waiver was expected to be granted by the U.S. to these South Korean chip makers for the necessity of a license to allow bringing in U.S. chip equipment to China.

Choi Sang-mok, a senior presidential secretary for economic affairs in South Korea, stated that the operations and investments of these semiconductor firms’ in China will be easier now. This will also allow them to execute long-term global management strategies.

Samsung and SK Hynix have already been informed of this decision by the U.S.

The South Korean presidential office has also announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce is in the process of revising its "validated end user" list. This revision will determine the eligible entities authorized to receive exports of specific technology. The goal of this update is to permit Samsung and SK Hynix to continue providing certain U.S. chipmaking equipment to their manufacturing facilities in China.

The entities included in this list won’t require any separate permission from the U.S. to export cases.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are the world’s largest and second-largest memory chipmakers, respectively. Their investments in manufacturing facilities in China have surpassed the billion-dollar mark. They have provided statements welcoming this decision.

In a statement, Samsung mentioned, "We have worked closely with the relevant governments to substantially reduce uncertainties concerning the operation of our semiconductor manufacturing lines in China."

SK Hynix expressed its approval, stating, "We appreciate the U.S. government's choice to extend a waiver in relation to export control regulations. We believe this decision will aid in stabilizing the worldwide semiconductor supply chain."

Samsung Electronics manufactures approximately 40% of its NAND flash chips at its facility in Xian, China, whereas SK Hynix produces around 40% of its DRAM chips in Wuxi and 20% of its NAND flash chips in Dalian, China.

As of the end of June, according to data from TrendForce, these companies collectively controlled approximately 70% of the global DRAM market and 50% of the NAND flash market.