U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has urged Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to expand their memory semiconductor production within the United States.

Bloomberg reported that Secretary Lutnick made the remarks on July 9 (local time) at a ceremony marking the first concrete pour for a new fabrication plant (fab) being built by Micron, a competitor to Samsung and SK Hynix, in Clay, New York.

Lutnick stated that he is in discussions with the two Korean memory manufacturers regarding the matter, though he did not disclose specific details.

While acknowledging that Micron might not welcome an increased presence of Korean memory chipmakers in the U.S., he noted, "I want to bring their competitors, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, to the U.S. to build production facilities." He added, "Since Micron is leading the way, their competitors will feel jealous and will eventually have no choice but to follow."

"We want to protect those who invest in great American companies and intellectual property," he continued. "It is my view that I want Micron to build its plants as quickly as possible."

He also remarked, "President Trump has made it clear that the U.S. is where you should be doing business, and the world is responding quickly to this. The Trump economic model clearly shows that there has never been a better time to invest in the U.S."

Lutnick avoided answering a question regarding whether the U.S. would approve measures for Apple to add Chinese suppliers, such as ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), in response to surging semiconductor prices.

Micron announced on the same day that it would increase its investment in U.S. fabs and technology to more than 250 billion dollars (approximately 375 trillion won) by 2035, in line with the rapid surge in memory demand during the artificial intelligence (AI) era.

This investment includes the costs for the New York fab as well as expansions of fabs in states such as Idaho and Virginia.

Micron added that it had carried out the first concrete pour for the New York fab more than a quarter ahead of schedule.

The company expects that these investments will support its goal of producing 40 percent of its DRAM in the U.S. and create more than 90,000 jobs across the country.

The Donald Trump administration has pledged to ensure that 40 percent of the world's semiconductors are produced within the U.S. by the end of its term, and Micron has previously announced a goal to produce 40 percent of its DRAM domestically in response.

In addition, Micron plans to invest up to 3 billion dollars (4.5 trillion won) to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain ecosystem within the U.S.

Of this amount, 500 million dollars will be used to support the expansion of a wafer manufacturing facility in Texas owned by the Taiwanese company GlobalWafers, with a 10-year long-term supply agreement to be established.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra emphasized, "As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, data and memory have become the cornerstone of the modern economy. To keep pace with this era, we are expanding our U.S. investment to over 250 billion dollars by 2035."

Micron had initially planned to invest 170 billion dollars in the U.S., but after the launch of the Trump administration, it raised the investment to 200 billion dollars in June of last year due to the explosive demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and has now increased it by another 50 billion dollars.

This investment is interpreted as an effort to align with the policy direction of the Trump administration, which aims to revive the U.S. semiconductor industry.

In particular, Micron's announcement of the investment one day ahead of SK Hynix's Nasdaq ADR listing on July 10 is also seen as a move to keep its competitors in the memory sector, including HBM, in check.

SK Hynix plans to raise approximately 26.5 billion dollars (about 40 trillion won) through this listing.

While Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have not issued official statements regarding Secretary Lutnick's remarks, there is an atmosphere of internal deliberation over response strategies, with concerns that U.S. pressure to invest in American semiconductor production could intensify.

Industry analysts suggest that after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced plans for a total of 800 trillion won in semiconductor investments in the Honam region, the U.S. government could point to the relatively smaller investments in the U.S. and potentially revive threats of a 100 percent tariff on semiconductor items to exert pressure.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are considering ways to accelerate and solidify their existing U.S. investment plans.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)