South Korea eyes chip cooperation with Taiwan

韓國尋求與台灣進行晶片合作

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — South Korea sees potential to collaborate with Taiwan on navigating US semiconductor tariffs, Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Monday, per Reuters.

Yeo said Taiwan is also negotiating with Washington, creating space for the two economies to secure the most favorable treatment. He made the comments during a radio interview in Seoul.

South Korea recently finalized a trade deal that reduces US tariffs in exchange for major South Korean investment in US strategic industries. Taiwan’s negotiations with Washington are still ongoing.

As part of the deal with Seoul, the US pledged that South Korea’s semiconductor tariffs would be “no less favorable” than any future agreement covering a similar scale of chip trade. South Korean officials say this language points to Taiwan, its key competitor.

A South Korean official declined to say whether there had been direct conversations with Taiwan about tariff coordination. However, Seoul sees shared interests with Taipei as both economies negotiate access to the US market.

South Korea’s chip exports to the US surged 51.2% to US$1.2 billion (about NT$37.75 billion) in October, driven by demand for advanced processors used in AI.