Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
US seeks share of Korean chipmakers' 'excess profits': source
A Samsung Electronics office in Seocho District, Seoul, left, and SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han, Yonhap
By Lee Gyu-lee
Claim follows increase in Korea's semiconductor exports to US
The U.S. is seeking a share in Korean semiconductor companies’ enormous profits from the global artificial intelligence (AI) chip boom, citing strong U.S. demand for Korean chips, according to an industry source.
This comes amid debates here on what defines “excess” gains, whether they should be shared with subcontractors or even with the public, and how much each subcontractor or contributor is entitled to.
The industry source familiar with the matter said during a meeting last month that Rick Switzer, deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR), told Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo that the U.S. side deserves a share of the massive profits of SK hynix and Samsung Electronics.
“That was based on a rationale that American companies purchased large volumes of Korean semiconductors and thus contributed to the Korean firms' earnings,” the source said. “So, if the Korean chipmakers’ partner firms in Korea are entitled to parts of the profits, the American ones are, too.”
A ranking government official also told The Korea Times that the U.S. side made such a claim, without elaborating.
The Korea Times has reached out to USTR, as well as the U.S. departments of Commerce and Treasury multiple times to confirm the claim, but they did not respond.
Officials at Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said they were unaware of the matter.
"Basically, Korean companies have already announced investments through business roundtables in line with last year's tariff agreements, and they have also made substantial investments over the years," a ministry official said.
"Our basic position is that matters related to industry should proceed based on commercial reasonableness and such principles, and we will continue to follow that approach. Regarding semiconductors, there is nothing we know at this point or can comment on."
Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, third from left, speaks to Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Rick Switzer, second from left, during bilateral tariff negotiations on the sidelines of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Oct. 30, 2025. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources
The U.S. claim comes amid a continued surge in Korea’s semiconductor exports including those to America.
Semiconductor exports in the first half of this year reached a record $192.43 billion, up 162.5 percent from $73.31 billion a year earlier, while exports to the U.S. rose 91.3 percent to $26.4 billion from $13.8 billion, according to government data.
In June alone, semiconductor exports climbed 199.2 percent year-over-year to a record $44.82 billion from $14.98 billion, and shipments to the U.S. surged 377.2 percent to $6.49 billion from $1.36 billion.
So far, Washington's public focus has not been on profit-sharing but on urging Korean chipmakers to expand semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
Last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly called on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to build memory chip fabrication plants in the country, reinforcing the Donald Trump administration's push to localize semiconductor production.
Both companies have already announced major U.S. investments, but neither currently has plans to build advanced DRAM or NAND fabrication plants there.
In recent months, it has been debated here whether Samsung Electronics and SK hynix should redistribute so-called excess profits to subcontractors and suppliers, who partially contributed to the profits, or even to the public since taxpayers' money has been spent to support necessary infrastructure.