EXCLUSIVE — SK Hynix conditions new US factory on more US chip equipment exports to China, sources say

Hynix is seeking new equipment for unused space in Dalian facility Plant produces memory for SSDs that Solidigm sells to data centers Expanded production from China would help Solidigm fund a new US NAND facility By Karen Freifeld and Hyunjoo Jin NEW YORK/SEOUL Oct 14 (Reuters) — South Korea's SK Hynix is seeking approval from Washington to export US chipmaking equipment to China to increase production there as a condition for building a factory in the US, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The Trump administration is pressing SK Hynix, Samsung and other foreign chipmakers to build plants in the US in a drive to rebuild US manufacturing capacity and create jobs. Amid a global shortage of memory chips that has driven up prices, Solidigm, the US unit of SK Hynix, wants to install new equipment to produce NAND chips in unused space at SK Hynix's Dalian, China, site. NAND flash memory is used in solid-state drives installed in data centers for AI and cloud computing. The Dalian NAND facility uses tools from major US semiconductor equipment makers like Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA. Solidigm's pursuit of a US export license for additional equipment in Dalia