U.S. Demands Share of Excess Profits from SK Hynix and Samsung
Alina Collins
A senior U.S. trade official told South Korea that Washington has the right to share in SK Hynix's and Samsung's massive chip profits — extending American pressure from 'build factories here' to 'hand over part of the money you've already made,' a far more immediate hit to the bottom line.
Why does the U.S. think it deserves a cut?
The logic is blunt: American companies are the biggest buyers of Korean chips — without those orders, SK Hynix and Samsung would not be earning this much.
Rick Switzer, deputy U.S. Trade Representative, put it this way: if Korean domestic partners are entitled to a share because they contributed to profits, American firms should have the same right.
This means → Washington is equating "purchasing volume" with "profit contribution" and claiming a stake on that basis. If the logic holds, any major buyer could demand a slice of its supplier's profits.
How explosive is Korea's chip-export boom?
In the first half of this year, Korean semiconductor exports hit a record $192.43 billion, up 162.5% year-on-year. Exports to the U.S. alone reached $26.4 billion, up 91.3%.
June was even more extreme: monthly chip exports hit $44.82 billion, an all-time high. Exports to the U.S. surged 377.2% to $6.49 billion.
In plain terms = the global AI-chip boom is in full swing, and SK Hynix and Samsung — the world's two dominant memory-chip makers (the companies behind the RAM and flash storage in virtually every server and device) — are sitting in the fattest profit window of their history. The U.S. is their single largest destination.
From "build here" to "share profits" — what changed?
Until now, U.S. pressure on Korean chipmakers centered on building factories on American soil. Last week Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly called on Samsung and SK Hynix to build memory-chip fabs in the U.S.
Both companies have announced major U.S. investment plans, but neither has concrete plans for an advanced DRAM or NAND fab in America.
This means → factory demands target future capacity. Profit-sharing targets cash already earned — the financial pressure is more immediate and harder to defer.
Wasn't Korea already arguing about "excess profits" at home?
Whether Samsung and SK Hynix should redistribute some of their outsized earnings to supply-chain subcontractors, component suppliers, and even the public was already a live domestic debate in Korea.
Washington stepping in adds an external variable to what was an internal dispute — Korean policymakers and executives now face pressure on two fronts simultaneously.
This reflects something deeper: once a company's profits reach a certain scale, who gets to share and by what rules stops being a commercial question and becomes a political one.
What to watch next?
Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it was unaware of the claim, reiterating that "industry matters should proceed on the basis of commercial reasonableness."
Washington's statement has not been officially confirmed and remains at the informal level.
In plain terms = the single question that matters is whether this was a negotiating-table probe or the opening of a formal demand. If the latter, profit expectations for Korea's chip giants will need to be repriced.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.