US gives Samsung green light to send chip tools to China—just for a year
Samsung just got the US government's okay to bring chip-making equipment into its Chinese factories in 2026, but only for one year.
This follows the end of special waivers that allowed Samsung, SK hynix, and Intel to continue shipping equipment to their China operations, despite ongoing US-China tech tensions.
As of now, only Samsung is confirmed to have received a new annual license for 2026.
What's changed with US export rules?
Instead of long-term exemptions, the US now reviews these chip tool exports every year—part of a bigger push to limit China's access to advanced tech.
TSMC and Micron still have waivers for some Chinese sites, but many big Chinese chipmakers remain on America's restricted Entity List.
The rules are shifting fast as Washington keeps tightening control over who gets what tech.