Commerce Secretary Lutnick pressures Samsung and SK Hynix to move memory chip production to the US

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is pressuring Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to build memory chip production facilities in the US or face 100% tariffs on chips sold into the American market. The push comes as AI-driven demand consumes 70% of global memory output, leaving other industries struggling with shortages and price spikes. The US currently produces almost no memory chips domestically, creating a strategic vulnerability that Washington is determined to address.

Commerce Secretary Lutnick pressures Samsung and SK Hynix to move memory chip production to the US With 100% tariffs on the table and AI eating up global chip supply, Washington is done waiting for the semiconductor industry to come to it The US government has officially lost patience with relying on overseas memory chip producers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is pushing Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the two dominant players in global memory chip manufacturing, to build out production capacity on American soil. In January 2026, Lutnick made clear that memory producers faced a binary choice: build in America, or absorb a 100% tariff on chips sold into the US market. Why memory chips, and why now Memory chips are not the flashy part of the semiconductor conversation. That spotlight usually goes to the advanced logic chips made by TSMC and Intel. But DRAM, HBM, and NAND flash are the workhorses of every server, smartphone, and car on the planet, and the US currently produces almost none of them domestically. DRAM prices surged over 60% in 2025, driven almost entirely by data centers racing to build AI infrastructure. By the end of 2026, data centers are projected to consume roughly 70% of global memory chip output. That leaves automotive manufacturers, consumer electronics companies, and industrial buyers competing for what is left. A coalition of nine US trade associations sent a letter on June 3, 2026, raising the alarm directly. Their core concern: Samsung and SK Hynix, rationally chasing higher margins in the AI segment, are structurally limiting supply to everyone else. The political pressure is building from multiple directions Senator Bernie Moreno sent his own letter on April 14, 2026, warning that memory chip prices for certain applications could spike by as much as 100% if domestic plants are not built and stocked. His focus was the automotive sector specifically, where a shortage of relatively low-cost memory chips can halt production lines worth billions. The SEMI trade group, in a letter dated July 1, 2026, pushed back on heavy-handed intervention and instead encouraged policymakers to use CHIPS Act support mechanisms, like long-term supply agreements and manufacturing incentives, rather than tariffs that could distort the market further. Samsung already has a semiconductor facility under development in Taylor, Texas, though its focus has been on logic chips rather than memory. SK Hynix, meanwhile, announced plans for a packaging and manufacturing presence in Indiana, focused primarily on high-bandwidth memory for AI applications. Neither commitment fully addresses the broader domestic memory supply gap that Lutnick is flagging. What this means for investors and the broader market For semiconductor equipment companies and materials suppliers, the push for US-based fabs is directionally positive. More domestic manufacturing means more demand for the tools and chemicals that go into chip production, regardless of which foreign company ends up operating the plant. The SEMI trade group’s preference for CHIPS Act-style incentives over tariffs reflects a real tension in US semiconductor policy. Investors watching this space should track whether the administration pairs the tariff threat with concrete subsidy commitments, because the sequencing matters enormously for how memory prices behave over the next 18 to 24 months. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/ .