According to a Reuters report citing sources familiar with the matter, the U.S. government has issued annual licenses to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for the allowance to bring semiconductor manufacturing equipment to their facilities in China for 2026.
This development provides temporary relief for the South Korean chipmakers, following an earlier move by U.S. authorities to withdraw certain licence waivers previously granted to technology firms.
Previously, Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC had operated under exemptions from broad U.S. export restrictions on chip-related technology destined for China. However, the validated end-user status that conferred these privileges is set to expire on December 31, requiring new U.S. export licenses for shipments of American chipmaking tools to their Chinese plants after that date.
The Trump administration has been reviewing export controls, viewing earlier regulations under the Biden administration as overly permissive, in a bid to restrict China’s access to advanced U.S. technology.
As memory chips have seen price increases amid strong demand from AI data centers and tightening supplies, China remains a core manufacturing hub for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Both companies rely on their Chinese operations for traditional memory chip production.
