K-Semiconductor Shakes Amid Mixed Fortunes: Hopes for 'Subsidy Revival' Rise

[Anchor]

We need to carefully examine whether the Democratic Party's victory will turn out to be a nightmare or an opportunity for our businesses and economy. Fortunes are expected to diverge depending on the industry.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun takes a closer look.

[Reporter]

Texas is projected to become the largest region in the United States by the year after next, accounting for 30% of all electricity consumed by data centers nationwide.

However, the newly elected Democratic governor has pledged to halt all data center construction immediately upon taking office.

[Gina Hinojosa / Governor-Elect of Texas, USA : Until we have laws in place that protect residents, I will suspend all data center approvals.]

This is because complaints have persistently flared up over the fact that each data center devours massive amounts of electricity equivalent to that of a small town, while residents are left to shoulder the costs of expanding power plants and transmission grids through their electricity bills.

[Cyrus Reed / Texas Environmental Advocates Activist (March last year) : Big tech lobbyists are pushing hard to ensure that corporations do not pay their fair share.]

Such movements are taking place across the entire United States.

Among the 36 candidates who have won gubernatorial elections or are leading the vote counts, 34 supported data center regulations, and 12 pledged to halt construction altogether.

Analyses suggest that the construction of around 1,000 data centers across the U.S. could be suspended or delayed.

If so, this could create fallout not only for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which supply semiconductors to them, but also for other domestic companies providing electrical equipment and more.

[Lee Joon / Director, Strategic Industries Research Center, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade : Supply and demand could loosen up slightly. Prices would naturally drop, which would impact profitability. That is the scenario we are most concerned about.]

On the other hand, domestic automakers such as Hyundai Motor and Kia are pinning their hopes on moves led by Democratic lawmakers to revive electric vehicle purchase subsidies.

KOTRA forecasted that the power and shipbuilding sectors could also present opportunities for us, given the strong bipartisan commitment from both Democrats and Republicans to foster these industries.

(Video Editing: Lee So-young, Design: Park Taeyoung, Screen Source: Climate Justice Alliance & X 'Gina Hinojosa')
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.