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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The U.S. government has granted annual export waivers allowing Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to bring U.S.-made semiconductor equipment into their manufacturing facilities in China, according to foreign media reports.
TSMC confirmed the approval, stating that the measure would enable “stable fab operations and uninterrupted product deliveries.” The company operates a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Nanjing, China.
Until last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) had granted Verified End User (VEU) status to Samsung Electronics’ Xi’an NAND flash plant, SK Hynix’s Wuxi DRAM plant and Dalian NAND facility, as well as TSMC’s Nanjing fab. Under the VEU program, companies meeting specific security requirements were allowed to import U.S.-made semiconductor equipment without individual licensing or time restrictions.
However, as the U.S. government tightened export control measures, the VEU status previously granted to the Chinese operations of the three companies expired last year. This raised industry concerns that Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and TSMC would face operational disruptions, as they could be required to obtain separate approvals from U.S. authorities for each shipment of equipment to their China-based fabs.
The newly granted annual waivers are expected to ease such concerns by allowing continued equipment shipments under a simplified approval framework, helping maintain stable production operations at their China facilities.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
