SK Hynix's US Unit Wants Washington to Let More Chip Tools Into China Before It Builds an American Factory

Washington wants two things from foreign chipmakers: build factories in America, and keep advanced chipmaking tools out of China. SK Hynix's US unit has just put both on the same table as a trade.

Solidigm is seeking a US export license for more equipment from Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA, to install NAND flash production in unused space at SK Hynix's plant in Dalian, China. And it is making its plan for a new US NAND factory contingent on getting that license, people familiar with the matter told Reuters late Wednesday.

The logic is about cash. Extra output from Dalian would help Solidigm pay for the American plant. Solidigm has been planning that factory for a while and is considering upstate New York as a location.

Why the timing works for them

NAND flash is the memory inside the solid-state drives in laptops, phones and AI data centers. AI demand has driven a shortage of the component, and TrendForce expects NAND prices to rise 15% to 20% in the fourth quarter, TechCrunch noted. More capacity anywhere is worth a lot right now.

The administration also wants that capacity in the US. The Trump White House has been pressing SK Hynix, Samsung and others to build American plants to bring back manufacturing jobs. In July, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he wanted both Korean memory giants building chip factories in the US and was in talks with them. SK Hynix has already committed to a $4 billion HBM packaging plant in Indiana.

The export control problem

The awkward part is China. Washington imposed sweeping restrictions on exports of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China in October 2022 and tightened them in 2023. In September 2025, the administration revoked the special exemptions that had let certain SK Hynix, Samsung and Intel facilities in China receive American tools freely. Since then, Samsung and SK Hynix have needed an annual license for equipment going to their Chinese plants.

Commerce later allowed shipments that keep existing operations running, but said it did not expect to approve licenses for capacity expansions or technology upgrades. SK Hynix's 2026 license for Dalian caps equipment quantities. Its request for additional equipment in 2027 is still pending.

SK Hynix pushes back on the framing. The company told TechCrunch it is not seeking to expand capacity at Dalian Mod B, which was completed in 2023, and that the equipment installation is being carried out in consultation with, and under authorization from, the US government. In other words, it sees this as working within the rules, not around them.

What is riding on it

Solidigm has its own reasons to want a growth story. It is reportedly preparing a US listing in 2027 that could raise around $10 billion and value the company at up to $100 billion. A new American fab and a fuller Chinese plant would both feed that pitch.

Investors are not in a generous mood. SK Hynix's Nasdaq shares, listed since July under SKHY, fell 6.5% in overnight trading late Wednesday after a similar drop in the regular session. They are down 20% this month and heading for their worst month since the debut. The slide is part of a wider chip selloff driven by doubts about how long AI spending lasts, valuation fears, a hotter 3.7% US inflation reading for September, advances by Chinese memory maker CXMT and Broadcom CEO Hock Tan likening AI investment to "casino gambling." The SOXX chip ETF fell for a seventh straight session, and on Thursday the Kospi tumbled more than 7%, with Samsung and SK Hynix among the biggest decliners, extending the rout in Korean chip stocks.

Now the decision sits with Commerce, and an American factory is waiting on it.

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