The US wants to form a ‘super chip quartet’ with Japan, Korea, and Taiwan

According to BusinessKorea , the US government proposes to establish a semiconductor industry alliance with Asian allies, including South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, to curb China’s nascent semiconductor industry from developing. grow strong.

However, according to an unnamed industry source, the proposal was not “fully accepted” by the Seoul government because South Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have invested billions of dollars in investments. USD into key manufacturing facilities in China. They also fear retaliation from Beijing if such an alliance exists.

Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment on the matter.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused a global chip shortage, the US administration has been looking for ways to reduce its supply chain dependence on China.

In September 2020, under the Trump administration, officials from the US, Taiwan, Japan and the European Union came up with the idea of ​​bringing together “like-minded people” to move supply chains out of China. .

The latest report of a potential chip alliance comes as the Biden administration is pushing a bill that would provide $52 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor research and production.

The idea of ​​a US-led semiconductor alliance that does not include China has sparked debate on Chinese social media. Some Chinese netizens argue that such a move will only double Beijing’s efforts to achieve technological self-sufficiency, while others argue that such an alliance is unlikely. happened because China’s market is too big for Korean and Taiwanese chip companies to give up.

Meanwhile, the second phase of Samsung’s NAND flash project in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, has begun operations in 2021. The $25 billion complex includes two factories for wafer production and a packaging and testing facility that produces more than 40% of Samsung’s total NAND flash memory production capacity.

SK Hynix is ​​operating a DRAM wafer manufacturing plant and packaging and testing facility in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and Chongqing, Sichuan Province.

Integrated circuits (ICs) or chips are Korea’s top export to China. In 2021, South Korea has a trade surplus of $25.7 billion in industrial zones with China, up from $20.1 billion in 2020, according to Korea’s customs trade statistics.

Refer to SCMP