US approves Samsung chipmaking tool shipments to China for 2026, source says

By Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL, Dec 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. government has granted an annual licence to ​Samsung Electronics to bring in chip ‌manufacturing equipment to its facilities in China for 2026, a ‌person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The approval is a temporary relief for the South Korean firm and follows a U.S. decision ⁠earlier this year ‌to revoke licence waivers given to some tech companies.

The source said that ‍Washington introduced the annual approval system for exports of chipmaking tools to China.

Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC ​had benefited from exemptions to Washington’s sweeping ‌restrictions on chip-related exports to China. But the privilege known as validated end user status will end on December 31, meaning shipments of American chipmaking tools to their factories in ⁠China after that date will ​require U.S. export licences.

Samsung, ​SK and TSMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Keen to limit ‍China’s access ⁠to advanced American technology, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been re-examining export controls ⁠that it thought were too relaxed under the Biden administration.

(Reporting ‌by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Jacqueline ‌Wong and Saad Sayeed)