South Korea announces over $23 billion for chip sector as Trump tariffs on semiconductor imports loom

Visitors look at the display of SK Hynix Inc. 12-layer HBM3E memory chips at the Semiconductor Exhibition (SEDEX) in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. South Korea announced Tuesday a support package of 33 trillion won ($23.25 billion) for its vital semiconductor industry, as heightened uncertainty over U.S. tariffs threatens domestic companies. This comes after U.S. president Donald Trump reportedly said he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors soon, after exempting them from his steep "reciprocal" tariffs last Friday. In a social media post Monday, Trump vowed to investigate the "whole electronics supply chain" on national security grounds. The U.S. Department of Commerce also released a notice saying it will initiate an investigation "to determine the effects on national security of imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and their derivative products." South Korea's funding support was about a quarter more th ... Read full article.