As the South Korean government is making every effort in last-minute negotiations with the Trump administration in the United States over reciprocal tariff rates, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is stepping in as a key supporter.
On July 29 at around 3:50 p.m., Chairman Lee arrived at Gimpo Airport and boarded a flight to Washington, D.C. This trip appears to be aimed at supporting the government's tariff negotiations. It comes just 12 days after the Supreme Court finalized a not guilty verdict for Lee regarding the unfair merger and accounting fraud case on July 17. When approached by reporters at the airport, Lee did not respond to any questions and simply greeted them with a brief "Hello" before heading to the departure gate.
Chairman Lee is expected to play a crucial role as a major bargaining chip for the South Korean side. There is a possibility that Samsung will present the Trump administration with proposals that include expanding semiconductor investments in the United States and promoting technological cooperation in the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor sector. Samsung currently operates a foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) plant in Austin, Texas. The company is also building another foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, which is scheduled to begin operations next year. Samsung has already announced plans to invest over $37 billion (approximately 54 trillion won) in local semiconductor production bases in the United States by 2030. Depending on the outcome of Lee's business trip, this investment amount could increase even further.
Chairman Lee is also expected to highlight the fact that Samsung has recently been strengthening its collaboration and expanding its connections with major global big tech companies in the United States. Through this, he is likely to emphasize that Samsung can support the Trump administration's semiconductor industry revitalization policies and investment attraction strategies. The foundry supply contract signed with Tesla the previous day could make Lee's proposals even more appealing. Tesla has entered into a foundry supply contract with Samsung worth 22.8 trillion won, under which Samsung will begin producing Tesla's next-generation AI chip, the AI6, at the Taylor plant starting next year. There is growing interest in whether these proposals could provide a breakthrough regarding the semiconductor tariffs that the United States has announced it will impose.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
