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South Korea to negotiate with the US for favourable chip tariff terms, official says

By Thomson Reuters Jan 18, 2026 | 1:53 AM

SEOUL, Jan 18 (Reuters) – South Korea will seek favourable terms for U.S. ‍tariffs on imports of memory chips, a presidential office spokesperson said at a televised briefing on Sunday.

The ‌country last year ‌released a joint fact sheet on its trade deal with the U.S. that included terms ensuring ​South Korea will not receive unfavourable treatment ‍from U.S. ​tariffs on imported chips ​compared to key competitors, ‍the official said, when asked about the Trump administration’s proclamation imposing tariffs on artificial intelligence chips.

On Saturday, ‍South Korea’s trade minister said U.S. tariffs on some advanced ‍computing ‍chips would have ​a limited impact on ​South ⁠Korean companies.

South Korea’s ‌Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are among the world’s biggest memory chip producers.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by ⁠Jamie Freed)