Recently, the US government has taken a series of tough measures in the semiconductor field, attempting to force chip manufacturers to accelerate the construction of factories in the US through tariff policies. On January 16, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said that if Korean memory chip manufacturers and companies from Taiwan, China, do not increase production in the US, they may face tariffs as high as 100%.

Lutnick's remarks were made after the groundbreaking ceremony for Micron Technology's new factory on the outskirts of Syracuse, New York. He explicitly pointed out that, according to the potential tax regulations stipulated in the trade agreement with Taiwan, China, Korean chip manufacturers may also be affected. Lutnick emphasized: "All companies that want to produce memory chips have two options: either pay 100% tariffs or build factories in the US. This is our industrial policy."

Korean Semiconductor Companies' Response Strategies

Faced with the US tariff threat, Korean semiconductor companies are actively responding. On January 16, the South Korean Ministry of Industry issued a statement saying that it had held a meeting with representatives of Korean semiconductor companies to discuss response strategies. Recently, SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chip giant, announced plans to invest 19 trillion won in building a new advanced packaging plant in Cheongju, South Korea, to meet the surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) brought about by the development of artificial intelligence technology. However, it is still uncertain whether this plan will be adjusted due to the US tariff policy.

US Domestic Semiconductor Industry Layout

At the same time, the layout of the US domestic semiconductor industry is also accelerating. Micron Technology's new factory project is the largest private investment in the history of New York State, with a total investment of about 100 billion US dollars, aiming to build the world's most advanced memory chip manufacturing center. The project is expected to officially start production in 2030, and the production capacity will be gradually released in the following ten years to meet the growing demand for advanced memory chips in fields such as artificial intelligence, data centers, and high-performance computing.

Uncertainty in the Global Semiconductor Market

The US tariff policy has not only put pressure on chip manufacturers from South Korea and Taiwan, China, but also brought uncertainty to the global semiconductor market. Although the South Korean Ministry of Industry said that the impact on Korean companies is relatively limited because the tariff policy is temporarily not applicable to chips supplied to US data centers and start-up companies, a situation statement released by the White House shows that Trump may plan to expand the scope of import tariffs on semiconductors and their derivatives, which may further intensify the tension in the global semiconductor industry.

Future Outlook

With the rapid development of AI technology, the demand for the semiconductor industry will continue to grow. Counterpoint Research predicts that DDR5 prices will rise by another 20% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of 2026, and the supercycle of the storage industry is still ongoing. Against this backdrop, the US tariff policy and industrial layout strategy may have a profound impact on the competitive landscape of the global semiconductor market. Chip manufacturers from South Korea and Taiwan, China, are facing a difficult choice: either build factories in the US to avoid high tariffs or continue production in their home countries and bear the possible trade risks.

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