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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as C.C. Wei, proper, chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pay attention within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home in Washington, March 3, 2025. AP-Yonhap
President Lee Jae Myung stated Wednesday that Seoul doesn’t take Washington’s current risk to impose a 100% tariff on semiconductors significantly.
Describing the transfer as a typical try to realize leverage in commerce talks, he stated the federal government will reply to the problem primarily based on requirements and ideas.
“So far as I do know, Taiwan and Korea maintain about 80 to 90 % of the worldwide semiconductor market, so a 100% tariff by america would finally elevate its shopper costs by almost the identical margin,” Lee instructed reporters throughout a nationally televised New Yr’s press convention. “Many of the tariffs could be handed on to U.S. commodity costs.”
Lee made the remarks as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix face U.S. President Donald Trump’s risk of steep tariffs on all reminiscence chips, not solely superior ones already topic to the 25 % obligation.
Final week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged international reminiscence chip producers to decide on between paying a 100% tariff or constructing a brand new plant in his nation.
Uncertainty has deepened after Taiwanese chipmakers gained exemptions in return for large investments within the U.S., with the Trump administration signaling its intent to pursue “separate agreements for separate international locations” on semiconductor tariffs.
The tariff charge on Korean semiconductors stays undecided, although Seoul was assured that it might not be handled much less favorably than different nations in line with a joint reality sheet signed with Washington final November to decrease U.S. tariffs on Korean items from 25 % to fifteen % in change for Korea’s $350 billion funding within the U.S.
Through the press convention, Lee cited the joint reality sheet, saying it ensures “no much less favorable” chip tariffs than Taiwan’s. Cheong Wa Dae additionally stated Sunday that the federal government will maintain talks with the U.S. to attenuate the impacts on Korean corporations, consistent with that precept.
“We signed that settlement to arrange for this situation,” Lee stated. “Nonetheless, U.S. tariffs on Korea may very well be as unfavorable as these on Taiwan. I hope Taiwan can stand up to U.S. stress.”
Concerning the U.S. request to construct reminiscence chip vegetation on American soil, the president referred to the “business reasonableness” customary within the joint reality sheet as the premise for Korea’s resolution. In keeping with the doc, the U.S. president shall choose investments really useful by the funding committee, which intends to suggest solely these it deems “commercially cheap.”
“You don’t want to fret an excessive amount of,” Lee stated. “We’ll overcome these challenges as a result of we have now a succesful trade minister and a powerful negotiation workforce.”
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