Key Points
- South Korea will seek favourable tariff terms with the U.S. to protect its memory chip exporters after new American semiconductor duties.
- Seoul plans to invoke provisions from last year’s joint chip tariff fact sheet to ensure parity with key competitors.
- Officials stress current U.S. tariffs have limited immediate impact, but broader future duties could pose risks.
South Korea said it will negotiate with the United States for favourable tariff treatment on imported memory chips after Washington imposed levies on some advanced semiconductors. A presidential office spokesperson said Seoul plans to invoke terms from a previous joint fact sheet with the U.S. to ensure Korean exporters are not treated less favourably than key competitors under new tariffs. The statement came amid broader concerns about U.S. trade policy after the Trump administration’s recent decision to add 25% tariffs on certain artificial-intelligence and advanced computing chips, which could affect global supply chains.
Officials emphasised that South Korea already has assurances from last year’s trade discussions that U.S. tariffs will not disadvantage its semiconductor industry relative to other major chip producers. The government intends to consult closely with U.S. authorities to clarify and enforce those conditions as part of negotiations aimed at limiting tariff burdens on South Korea’s dominant memory chip firms such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The emphasis is on achieving parity with other key markets that supply chips to the U.S., rather than securing outright exemptions.
South Korea’s trade minister previously said the new tariffs on advanced chips are likely to have limited immediate impact on local companies because the measures currently target logic chips made by rivals like Nvidia and AMD, rather than memory chips that form the bulk of Korean exports. However, Seoul recognises the possibility of broader future tariff actions under Washington’s national security basis and wants to safeguard its industry by securing clear, favourable terms.
Industry watchers say the negotiations reflect how major chip exporters are responding to shifting U.S. industrial policy aimed at boosting domestic semiconductor manufacturing. South Korea has stressed that existing trade deal assurances should prevent imbalances that could tilt competitive conditions against its memory sector. Government and corporate leaders are now looking to translate political commitments into practical tariff terms that protect exporters while accommodating U.S. policy goals.
Seoul’s efforts come amid broader global trade challenges in the tech sector, including competing incentives and regulatory changes affecting supply chains critical to artificial intelligence, data centres and high-performance computing. South Korea’s semiconductor industry remains a cornerstone of the global tech ecosystem, and favourable tariff terms could help sustain its export growth even as U.S. trade policy evolves.
