US Eyes Capping South Korean Chips Made In China: Report

The U.S. prepared to limit the level of advanced semiconductors made by South Korean companies in China, per a senior U.S. official, during a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
"What will likely be is a cap on the levels that they can grow to in China," said Alan Estevez, the U.S. Commerce Department's undersecretary for industry and security, Reuters reports.
"If you're at whatever layer of NAND, we will stop it somewhere in that range," Estevez said, referring to a flash memory product manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd SSNLF and SK Hynix.
He added that the U.S. government deeply discussed with the South Korean chipmakers.
He highlighted no harm to their allies' companies in their attempts to impede the Chinese capability of building threatening capabilities.
South Korea's industry ministry confirmed no specific discussions between South Korea and the U.S. on setting a cap on the technology level.
The industry ministry stated that the South Korean government plans to discuss the extension of chipmaking equipment imports to China.
In recent decades, Samsung and SK Hynix, which control about half of the global NAND flash memory chip market, have invested heavily in China to produce chips vital to customers, including tech giants Apple Inc AAPL and Amazon.Com Inc AMZN.
The U.S. had expressed concerns that Russia has access to foreign chips and technology through intermediaries like Iran despite war sanctions.
Russia reportedly turned to allies like Iran, North Korea, and China to source sanctioned goods.
Earlier, an American official acknowledged a deal with Japan and the Netherlands to impose new restrictions on exports of chipmaking tools to China.