U.S. grants Samsung and SK hynix 2026 licenses for chipmaking tool shipments to China — annual approvals replace dated waiver system
The U.S. government has approved annual export licenses allowing Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to ship chipmaking equipment to their manufacturing facilities in China throughout 2026.
(Image credit: SK hynix)
The U.S. government has approved annual export licenses allowing Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to ship chipmaking equipment to their manufacturing facilities in China throughout 2026, according to people familiar with the decision cited by Reuters. The approvals arrive just one day before a long-standing waiver system expires on December 31, forcing foreign-owned fabs in China onto a more restrictive licensing framework.
Under the previous regime, Samsung, SK hynix, and TSMC benefited from so-called validated end-user status, which allowed qualifying factories in China to receive U.S.-controlled semiconductor tools without seeking individual export licenses for each shipment. That status will lapse on December 31, after which shipments of U.S.-origin manufacturing equipment require explicit authorization from Washington.
These approvals are critical for both South Korean giants because China remains at the core of their memory production businesses. Samsung operates its large NAND flash facility in Xi’an, while SK hynix runs a major DRAM fab in Wuxi and a NAND plant in Dalian. Collectively, those sites account for a substantial share of global memory output, particularly for mature-node DRAM and NAND products. And because memory pricing has risen sharply over the past year as AI data center demand tightened supply, this has only increased the operational importance of keeping fabs running smoothly, regardless of where they are.
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