Photo : KBS News

Major semiconductor-producing countries and companies around the world have reportedly expressed concerns and urged restraint regarding the U.S. government’s push for semiconductor tariffs. 

According to the U.S. Federal Register on Wednesday, as of May 7 the U.S. Commerce Department had received 206 comments related to the Trade Expansion Act Section 232 investigation concerning imported semiconductors, manufacturing equipment and derivative products.

The South Korean government highlighted in its submitted comments that the U.S. and South Korea are in a complementary relationship, as South Korea exports memory chips to the U.S. and imports U.S. logic chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. 

South Korea warned that the imposition of U.S. tariffs could impair that relationship and ultimately weaken the U.S. semiconductor industry. 

South Korea also stressed that high-bandwidth memory and advanced DRAM, or dynamic random-access memory, are essential components of the United States’ artificial intelligence infrastructure, calling for a “strategic and cautious” approach from the U.S. 

The Seoul government requested “special consideration” from the U.S., saying that as South Korean companies building semiconductor plants in the U.S. will inevitably have to import semiconductor manufacturing equipment and materials for the time being, tariffs could negatively impact their investment in the U.S.

Japan, Taiwan, China and the European Union also submitted opinions, as did U.S. companies.