South Korea plans extra USD 4.9 billion help for chips amid US tariff anxiety

SEOUL: South Korea on Tuesday announced plans to invest almost USD 5 billion extra in the country’s semiconductor industry, citing “growing uncertainty” over US tariffs.

The country is a major exporter to the United States, and its powerhouse chip and auto industries would suffer a hefty hit from President Donald Trump’s threatened 25 percent levies.

Concerns about the sector have hammered the Seoul-listed shares of the world’s largest memory chip maker Samsung, and largest memory chip supplier SK Hynix.