Tariffs may imperil semiconductor market

The U.S. government’s preliminary decision to impose 57.4 percent in countervailing tariffs on exports by Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s third largest memory chipmaker, may lead to a further aggravation of the entire semiconductors chip industry, which is already struggling in the oversupply market, industry experts said. There is slim chance that Hynix may cut their productions despite expected obstacles in its exports to the United States or Europe, industry analysts said. Then the extra productions of dynamic random access memory chips, or DRAM chips, of Hynix would flow into the South Asian spot market, already stricken by oversupply. “If this becomes the case, the spot price of DRAM chips, which fell to around $3 early this year after peaking at $9 late last year, may nosedive again,” said an official from Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker. Industry observers predict that the DRAM prices may drop to about $2.50, which could threaten the survival of some Taiwan latecomers that rely heavily on the spot market. by Pyo Jae-yong