The Donald Trump administration has taken its next step in a trade offensive, this time targeting semiconductors.

Tariffs are the stated justification; the real objective is to force production onto U.S. soil. On Jan. 14, Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 25 percent duty on certain artificial intelligence (AI) chips. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick followed with a blunt warning: “Everyone who wants to build memory has two choices: They can pay a 100 percent tariff, or they can build in America.” Diplomacy has given way to coercion.

The target is unmistakable: memory semiconductors. DRAM and NAND, along with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) critical to AI, are squarely in the crosshairs. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which dominate the global market, are under direct pressure. For the first time, the U.S. has openly signaled its intent to pull memory production onto domestic soil, escalating the semiconductor battle to a new level.

The more serious problem is not the absence of assurances, but their emptiness. Last year’s Korea-U.S. joint fact sheet explicitly states that Korean chipmakers will receive “no less........

© The Korea Times