Visitors are looking at the display of SK Hynix Inc. 12 layers of HBM3E memory at the Semiconductor (SEDEX) exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday October 23, 2024.
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South Korea announced on Tuesday a set of support of 33 Billions of Won (23.25 billion dollars) for its vital semiconductor industry, as increased uncertainty about American prices threatens national companies.
It comes after US President Donald Trump would have said He would soon announce the rate of prices on imported semiconductors, after having exempt from his “reciprocal” rates abrupt last Friday.
In an article on social networks on Monday, Trump a sworn to investigate The “full electronics supply chain” for national security land.
The United States Ministry of Commerce has also published an opinion indicating that it would trigger an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of semiconductors, the manufacturing equipment of semiconductors and their derivatives”.
The financial support of South Korea was approximately a quarter more than the 26 billions committed last year, according to a press release from the Ministry of Finance.
As part of the measures, the Government will subsidize the construction of underground power transmission lines to semiconductor clusters, as well as increase the infrastructure financing ratio in industrial complexes advanced to 50% compared to 30%.
In total, 20 billions of low interest loan to semiconductor companies will be offered between 2025 and 2027, against the current 17 Billions.
The other measures include the introduction of training and research programs for domestic master’s and doctoral students as well as global joint research programs for foreign talents.
South Korea is home to some of the best flea manufacturers in the world, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, with semiconductors a key export of the country.
Tuesday, the South Korean Kospit increased by 0.68%, with Samsung climbing 1.07%and SK Hynix up 0.17%.
In 2024, semiconductor exports from South Korea was held at 141.9 billion dollarsJust over 20% of exports of $ 683.6 billion in the country.
The United States is The second largest export destination for South KoreaExports increasing by 10.5% in annual sliding to 127.8 billion dollars in 2024, reaching an annual new summit for the seventh consecutive year.
On Monday, the acting South Korean president Han Duck-Soo said that Trump had “apparently” asked his administration to carry out immediate pricing negotiations with South Korea, According to the local media store Yonhap.
Daniel Yoo, head of the World Investment Department of Yuanta Securities, said that this decision was a “sovereign effort to stimulate the semiconductor industry”, given that Seoul’s efforts to support its semiconductor sector were slower compared to other countries.
“Certainly, it’s a new positive to keep market share n ° 1 on the memory of the semiconductor industry,” added Yoo.
If semiconductor factories must be built in the United States, smaller and medium-sized companies will have to move to the United States “therefore, government support is most necessary. I am not sure that it is sufficient, but it is surely necessary support that other competitors get from their country.”
