Micron's $250 billion plan sets stage for Korean chip production calls

U.S. floated 100% tariff on semiconductor imports

Micron Technology said Wednesday it will expand investment in U.S. fabrication plants and technology to more than $250 billion by 2035, the company announced. Micron has set a goal of producing 40% of its DRAM in the United States and will move up part of its New York fabrication plant construction schedule.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, speaking at the Micron site in Clay, N.Y., said he wanted Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to build production facilities in the United States, according to a report by Asia Today translated by United Press International.

Samsung and SK Hynix recently announced a combined 800 trillion won, about $530 billion, investment plan in the Honam region of southwestern South Korea. Industry officials said they had expected Washington to push the Korean chipmakers to increase U.S. investment, and Lutnick’s direct naming of the two companies focused attention on how the remarks could affect their plans.

The U.S. government has suggested it could impose tariffs of up to 100% on all semiconductor imports, according to the report. President Donald Trump earlier this year told memory chipmakers they should invest in the United States, saying companies that do not build plants domestically could face 100% tariffs, according to the report. Semiconductors are currently excluded from the reciprocal tariffs and temporary import surcharges the United States has imposed since 2025.

Lutnick’s remarks came one day before SK Hynix’s Nasdaq listing of American depositary receipts, fueling speculation that Washington may want funds raised through the listing to be invested in the United States rather than South Korea.

In Japan, Nikkei reported that because Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for about 60% of the global memory market, the U.S. administration could raise monopoly concerns and demand relocation or investment in the United States.

Some analysts said the call for production investment in the United States, the central market for artificial intelligence, may indicate that memory semiconductors remain in short supply despite debate over whether the chip market is nearing a peak. Other analysts have raised concerns that large artificial intelligence data center operators, known as hyperscalers, could slow the pace of investment, but industry officials still expect supply and demand to begin moving toward balance no earlier than 2028.