Washington squeezes Asian tech supply chains

Washington is pushing South Korea to put more semiconductor capital into U.S. fabs, a direct attempt to lock allies’ advanced capacity inside American borders rather than merely rely on foreign supply guarantees. Seoul is already central to memory chips through Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, so added local investment would deepen the U.S. chip cluster alongside logic projects from Taiwan and Intel. The pressure also shows how fabs pull a wider industrial chain: water-treatment suppliers now expect silicone antifoam demand tied to fab expansion to reach a 178 index by 2035, underscoring that chip sovereignty is becoming heavy infrastructure policy.

Sources from the briefing

• Exclusive: U.S. Pressures South Korea to Invest in Local Semiconductor Facilities - 조선일보조선일보
• Exclusive: U.S. Pressures South Korea to Invest in Local Semiconductor Facilities - 조선일보조선일보
• Silicone Antifoams for Water Treatment Market to Reach 178 Index by 2035 on Semiconductor Fab Expansion - IndexBoxIndexBox