US Commerce Secretary: "Need to Identify Semiconductor Hoarding... Deploy National Defense Measures if Necessary"

Phone Calls with CEOs of Major Semiconductor Companies "Promise to Submit US Requests"

Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce (Photo by Bloomberg)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Major semiconductor companies are expected to submit all requested data by midnight on the 8th (local time), the deadline set by the U.S. administration under Joe Biden for semiconductor data submission. The U.S. government aims to identify hoarding that worsens semiconductor supply shortages and alleviate bottlenecks based on the submitted data.

According to Bloomberg News on the day, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated that all semiconductor companies have agreed to submit data by midnight, the deadline set by the U.S. government for semiconductor supply chain data submission.

Secretary Raimondo said, "Over the past two weeks, I have spoken directly with CEOs of major semiconductor supply chain companies," adding, "They promised to submit the data we requested."

She added, "Although we have not yet reviewed all the submitted data, semiconductor companies are providing strong data submissions," and said, "It seems there will be no need to invoke the Defense Production Act to enforce submission."

However, she maintained the position that additional measures might be necessary if the submitted data is not sufficiently satisfactory.

She further explained, "It is necessary to understand what is happening in the global supply chain that is causing distrust," and "The goal is to block excessive hoarding of semiconductors and identify and improve bottlenecks in the supply chain."

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also submitted the data requested by the U.S. government on the same day. Samsung Electronics stated, "In consultation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, sensitive internal corporate information such as customer data was not disclosed to the public."

SK Hynix also submitted data after consulting with the U.S. Department of Commerce and excluded data necessary to maintain trust with customers.

Earlier, Taiwan's TSMC, the world's number one foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, was the first to submit data on the 5th, excluding confidential information such as customer data. A TSMC spokesperson confirmed, "We submitted data that does not include customer-related information."

In addition, UMC, ASE in the semiconductor packaging and testing field, and GlobalWafers, a semiconductor wafer manufacturer, also submitted data. U.S. memory semiconductor company Micron and Israeli foundry company Tower Semiconductor were also listed among those who submitted data.

Earlier, amid the global semiconductor shortage, the U.S. government presented a survey with 26 items to the global semiconductor industry at the end of September, requesting responses by this day. The survey covered a wide range from general information to sensitive data such as semiconductor inventory, orders, sales, and customer information.

As semiconductor-related companies were reluctant to submit confidential information, the U.S. government allowed submission by industry categories such as automotive, mobile phones, and computers instead of providing sensitive details like customer names for each item.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.