Rutnick reveals at the groundbreaking ceremony for Micron’s new factory
Last year, the U.S. promised to provide ‘most-favored-nation treatment’ to Korea in semiconductors.
Howard Rutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Yonhap News file photo
On the 16th (local time), U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Rutnick reiterated to major semiconductor producing countries, including Korea, that “if they do not invest in the U.S., they may face 100% semiconductor tariffs.”
According to foreign media outlets such as Bloomberg News, Minister Rutnick met with reporters at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new factory of semiconductor company Micron held near Syracuse, New York, and said, “Everyone who wants to make memory semiconductors has two options: pay 100% tariffs or produce in the United States.”
Bloomberg News reported, “Minister Rutnick did not name a specific company, but since Korea and Taiwan are major semiconductor producers, he repeatedly hinted at the possibility of imposing 100% tariffs on the two countries.”
The Donald Trump administration announced in August of last year that it would “impose a 100% tariff on all semiconductors entering the United States,” but later set a policy of postponing the full introduction of tariffs and negotiating with exporting countries in a way to reduce America’s dependence on semiconductor imports. In relation to this, the United States announced the results of a trade agreement with Taiwan the day before and disclosed the conditions for ‘semiconductor tariff exemption’.
The Trump administration decided to exempt Taiwanese companies building new semiconductor production capacity in the United States from tariffs on imports of up to 2.5 times the production capacity while construction of the facility is in progress. In addition, Taiwanese companies that have completed new semiconductor production facilities are allowed to import up to 1.5 times their new production capacity without paying tariffs. These conditions are expected to become a reference point in future semiconductor negotiations between Korea and the United States.
Last year, Korea and the United States reached a trade agreement and decided to apply a 15% tariff to most Korean products, but did not finalize their plans for semiconductor tariffs. However, at the time, Korea received a promise in principle that it would not be treated any less favorably than its rival, Taiwan.
