South Korea May Delay US Trade Deal Over Threats To Its China-Based Chipmakers

South Korea is preparing to confront U.S. officials over potential restrictions on chipmakers operating in China.

What Happened: Ahead of the third round of tariff talks in Washington this week, South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said he will raise industry concerns over possible U.S. curbs that could hurt Korean semiconductor firms in China, reported Reuters.

“I will pass on the concerns among those in the industry and take utmost care,” Yeo told reporters before departing for Washington on Sunday.

The talks were originally expected to conclude with a trade agreement by July 8, but Yeo indicated that the deadline may slip due to political and economic uncertainties in the U.S., the report added.

Why It’s Important: Seoul is currently subject to a 10% blanket tariff, with an additional 25% country-specific duty temporarily suspended for 90 days.

Yeo, who was appointed this month by newly elected President Lee Jae Myung, also plans to meet officials at the White House and U.S. Congress to discuss multiple trade issues, including a U.S. request for South Korea to relax its restrictions on American beef imports.

South Korean chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF and SK Hynix, rely heavily on Chinese operations and new U.S. policies could upend their supply chains.

Earlier this month, it was reported SK Hynix has secured custom high-bandwidth memory (HBM) orders from Nvidia Corp NVDA, Microsoft Corp. MSFT and Broadcom Inc. AVGO.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSM will produce the logic dies for SK Hynix's custom HBM chips. The first offering, the seventh-generation HBM4E, is expected to launch in the second half of 2026.

Last year, it was reported that Chinese tech firms, including Huawei Technologies Co and Baidu Inc BIDU, were stockpiling HBM semiconductors from Samsung ahead of potential U.S. export restrictions.

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