Seoul: SK Hynix’s intention to upgrade its Chinese factory with cutting-edge chipmaking equipment is facing opposition from the US. Also, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai during a radio interview in Seoul admitted that Washington had resisted the South Korean chipmaker’s attempts to import cutting-edge equipment to its chip fabrication facility in Wuxi, China.

She also said, “There are legitimate concerns about the risks to national security in terms of where this technology ends up.” She expresses the risk of using such high-tech tools as they might be used to enhance China’s military capabilities and other strategic industries.

According to Yonhap News Agency, The technology in question is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography from Dutch company ASML Holding, which is necessary to cram ever-tinier transistors onto microchips to make them quicker, more powerful, and more energy-efficient.

SK Hynix’s spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency on Friday that there had been neither negotiations nor an urgent plan to import EUV equipment into China and that it was still too early to talk about any potential US restrictions on the company’s intention to upgrade its Chinese plant.