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Trump gov't renegotiating semiconductor grants, commerce secretary says

Published: 05 Jun. 2025, 08:55 Updated: 05 Jun. 2025, 11:33

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during a hearing of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, on June 4. [EPA/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is renegotiating some of the former Biden administration's grants to chipmaking companies, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday, raising concerns over the potential impact of the move on Korean tech giants.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Lutnick made the remarks regarding the Chips Act subsidies, intended to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing, during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, according to Reuters.

Some of the grants seemed "overly generous," and the Trump administration has been able to renegotiate them, Lutnick said.

"All the deals are getting better, and the only deals that are not getting done are deals that should have never been done in the first place," he said, according to Reuters.

During an address to Congress, Trump called for removing the Chips Act, casting it as a "horrible thing."

Under the act, the previous Joe Biden administration agreed to provide grants to two Korean tech firms, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, to support their chipmaking investments in the United States.

In December, the Commerce Department under the Biden administration said it awarded Samsung up to $4.745 billion in direct funding to support the tech giant's chipmaking investment in Central Texas.

It also announced a decision to give up to $458 million in direct funding and up to $500 million in loans to another Korean firm, SK hynix, for its investment in Indiana.

Yonhap