The U.S. government requested global semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and TSMC to submit company internal information, such as inventory and demand, on the grounds that it had to deal with the semiconductor supply shortage. The unprecedented demand was brought out as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) delta mutant virus spread in Southeast Asia and the supply shortage worsened, such as the stoppage of semiconductor chip assembly lines.
On the 23rd (local time), the White House and the Ministry of Commerce held a ‘semiconductor countermeasure video conference’ with officials from semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Intel of the United States, and TSMC of Taiwan. It’s the third meeting. As in the previous two occasions, automobile manufacturers such as General Motors (GM) and Ford, which are semiconductor demanders, and information technology (IT) companies such as Apple and Microsoft (MS) also attended. At Samsung Electronics, Choi Si-young, head of the foundry business, participated online.
At a meeting presided over by White House National Economic Council Chairman Brian Dess and Commerce Secretary Gina Lamondo, the US administration demanded that semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics, submit a questionnaire containing inventory, demand, and sales information within 45 days. Compared to the previous two meetings that checked the status quo or proposed to expand production facilities in the United States, it is a much tougher measure. “Since Joe Biden took office, the semiconductor shortage has been a top priority,” White House Press Secretary Jen Saki said.
“Now is the time to be more aggressive,” Ramondo told Reuters shortly after the meeting. “There are measures to be taken when companies do not respond to cooperation. I wish I didn’t go there, but if I had to, I would.” Industry watchers believe that Mr. Ramondo’s pressure hinted that the US government could use the Defense Product Production Act (DPA) to force the submission of corporate information. DPA, which was created for the production of military supplies during the Korean War in 1950, was triggered by the US government in the process of securing a COVID-19 vaccine. The semiconductor industry interpreted that the reason the US government even requested sensitive company information was because it took the supply shortage seriously. It is predicted that the semiconductor shortage for nearly a year will continue until next year. In particular, recently, semiconductor packaging factories in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, have stopped, and the bottleneck has worsened. About 10 North American auto plants, including Ford and GM, stopped production for several weeks. Toyota of Japan, which is highly dependent on Southeast Asian parts, cut global automobile production this month by 40% from its plan, and Hyundai Motor Company also operates production lines at its Ulsan and Asan factories for only a few hours or adjusts production in a way that does not work overtime on weekends. has spread to It is analyzed that the US government actively intervened, judging that it could not be resolved by leaving it alone to the private sector due to the seriousness of the situation.
As pressure from the US government intensifies, the burden on domestic semiconductor manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics is bound to increase. Samsung Electronics plans to build a semiconductor foundry (consignment production) plant worth 20 trillion won in the US, but it is known that the specific location or schedule was not announced at the meeting.
A Samsung Electronics official said, “We have only set the deadline and topic for providing information, but the US government has not yet decided on a response policy because the US government has not talked about specific items.” Ahn Ki-hyeon, executive director of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, explained, “It is sensitive data that may contain customer information, and it is unusual for the government to request it, so it will be burdensome for companies.”
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