South Korea will negotiate with the United States to secure favourable treatment on tariffs for imported memory chips, a presidential office spokesperson said on Sunday, following Washington’s move to impose duties on certain artificial intelligence chips.
The official said a joint U.S.–South Korea trade fact sheet released last year includes provisions aimed at ensuring South Korean chipmakers are not treated unfavourably compared with key competitors under U.S. tariff policy. The comments came in response to the Trump administration’s recent proclamation on AI chip tariffs.
On Saturday, South Korea’s trade minister said the measures would likely have a limited immediate impact on local companies. South Korea is home to global memory chip leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose exports are currently not the primary focus of the new U.S. restrictions.
Seoul said it would continue discussions with Washington to protect the competitiveness of its semiconductor industry.
