South Korea semiconductor exports to China sink as US tightens tech restrictions

South Korea’s semiconductor exports to China plunged last month, deepening concerns about a cooling in global demand already threatened by US tariffs, as Washington steps up its restrictions on technology supplies to Beijing.
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Chip sales to the world’s second-largest economy including Hong Kong fell 31.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

That was bigger than the 22.5 per cent contraction reported for January and comes after a 2024 rally that helped fuel South Korea’s economic growth.

The decline at the beginning of this year coincides with the US implementing new export restrictions on cutting-edge semiconductors to China.
The Department of Commerce in December slapped fresh curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory chips to China, seeking to keep Beijing from advancing in the fields of artificial intelligence and other hi-tech fields.
High-bandwidth memory chips are typically bundled with artificial-intelligence processors. Photo: Shutterstock
High-bandwidth memory chips are typically bundled with artificial-intelligence processors. Photo: Shutterstock
SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are two of the world’s biggest memory-chip makers and also operate semiconductor plants in China.