Trump 100% chip tax responsibilities who has the greatest impact? South Korea: Samsung, SK Hynix is not suitable

 9:31am, 9 August 2025

As more and more global semiconductor giants have obtained the newly proposed 100% semiconductor tax exemption qualifications by Trump, the list of companies that actually face temporary tax-related taxes is probably quite limited. According to the latest news, South Korea has just announced that Samsung and SK Hynix will be excluded from this measure.

U.S. President Trump announced today (7th) that he plans to pay 100% tax on imported semiconductors, but also attached a book that all companies that have built factories in the United States or have promised factories in the United States can be exempted.

Later, President Trump officially confirmed that NVIDIA and Apple will receive exemptions, mainly because both companies have made large-scale investments in the United States.

Apple announced that it will invest $60 billion in the United States in the next four years to create a complete local supply chain covering all stages from preliminary silicon wafer manufacturing to final packaging, and use iPhone, Mac and other Apple products. This plan will work together with many partners in the United States, including GlobalWafers America, Taiwan Electric, Texas Instruments, Applied Materials, etc.

After the news came out, the Korean government also announced that Samsung and SK Hynix will also receive exemptions from Trump's new tax policy. Among them, Samsung has promised to invest US$45 billion in the United States by 2030 to build two chip manufacturing factories, a R&D center and a packaging facility; SK Hynix will invest US$3.87 billion in West Lafayette, Indiana, to build an advanced packaging and development center for AI memory products.

At the same time, according to the report of South Korea's SBS TV station, Han Hanko, the chief trade adjudicator of Korea's "Trade Negotiation Headquarters", pointed out that in the trade agreement between South Korea and the United States, South Korea will receive the most favorable national treatment of "chips" and "pharmaceuticals" in the United States, so it is not applicable to 100% semiconductor tax regulations.

Foreign media WCCFtech believes that considering the "factory door" set by Trump's tax policy, only a few companies that do not have manufacturing points in the United States will truly face 100% penalty taxes, such as SMIC, Telecom and Japan Rapidus.

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