By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) — The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday declared the last rules to impede semiconductor grant beneficiaries from growing their production in China, as South Korean chipmakers have been expecting them for their potential effect on overseas operations.
The national security “guardrails” of the CHIPS and Science Act prohibits the material enlargement of semiconductor manufacturing capacity for advanced facilities in “foreign countries of concern” for 10 years from the date of award, the department said in a press release.
The department specified material expansion as increasing a facility’s production capacity by “more than five percent.”
It eliminated an initially proposed $100,000 spending cap on investments in advanced capacity in China as chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics Co., have expressed concerns over the impact of such restrictions on future business operations.
“One of the Biden-Harris Administration’s top priorities … is to expand the technological leadership of the U.S. and our allies and partners,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo was quoted as saying in a press release. “These guardrails will protect our national security and help the United States stay ahead for decades to come.”
The ‘guardrails’ were first proposed in March to “ensure technology and innovation funded by the CHIPS and Science Act is not used for malign purposes by adversarial countries against the United States or its allies.”
This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. shows the company's chip manufacturing plant in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
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