Samsung's New US Foundry Plant Shifts Toward Taylor... Austin School District Withdraws Application

The Samsung flag is fluttering in the wind in front of the Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] It has been confirmed that the tax reduction application submitted to the Manor Independent School District in Austin, Texas, one of the negotiation candidates for Samsung Electronics' $17 billion (approximately 20 trillion KRW) investment in a new foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) plant in the United States, has been withdrawn. With the withdrawal of the application from one of the Austin-area candidates, there is speculation that Taylor City, also in Texas and previously mentioned as another candidate site, has been selected as the final location.

According to foreign media on the 16th, the tax reduction application for the Austin semiconductor investment project that Samsung Electronics submitted to the Manor Independent School District in Austin last March was recently withdrawn from the website. There are three incentive negotiation entities related to the Austin area: the City of Austin, Travis County, and the Manor Independent School District. The application posted by one of these entities has been deleted.

As a result, local analysis suggests that Austin may have been excluded from Samsung Electronics' list of investment candidates. The local media outlet, Austin Business Journal, reported, "A spokesperson for the Texas Treasury Department confirmed that the application was withdrawn last week," adding, "It appears that Samsung Electronics is removing Austin from the candidate list." However, the other negotiation entities, the City of Austin and Travis County, did not make specific comments on this matter, the media added.

Samsung Electronics already has a foundry plant in Austin. While it was considered a strong candidate site for the new plant due to its proven track record, a sudden power outage decision by the City of Austin during an unexpected cold snap earlier this year caused damage worth billions of KRW in the semiconductor production process. Additionally, Taylor City, another candidate in the same state, confirmed in September a tax incentive plan that refunds most of Samsung Electronics' property taxes for the next 30 years, showing an active effort to attract the plant, leading to speculation that the decision might be leaning towards Taylor. Currently, the tax reduction application submitted by Samsung Electronics to Taylor remains valid on the state government website.

In response, Samsung Electronics stated, "We are still reviewing multiple candidate sites, and the final investment has not been decided."

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