U.S. approves Samsung, SK Hynix chip tools for China through 2026

The U.S. government has granted South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix an annual license to import chip-manufacturing equipment into their facilities in China for 2026, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The approval is a temporary reprieve for the firms and follows a U.S. decision earlier this year to revoke license waivers granted to certain tech companies.

One of the sources said that Washington introduced an annual approval system for exports of chipmaking tools to China.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC have 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 licenses.

Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment, while TSMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Department of Commerce was not immediately available for comment outside business hours.

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

South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chipmaker, and second-ranked SK Hynix count China as one of their key production bases, especially for traditional memory chips, whose prices have been surging amid demand from AI data centers and tighter supplies.