Excluding Sensitive Data
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix provided their semiconductor supply chain data requested by the U.S. government on Nov. 8 (U.S. local time), the deadline set by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Korean companies reportedly presented their data after excluding the most sensitive information such as the names of their clients or their inventory levels as the U.S. government eased its initial request.
The U.S. Commerce Department originally asked global semiconductor manufacturers to “voluntarily” fill out a questionnaire about the supply chain pertaining to their chip inventory, sales, orders, customers’ information and more.
According to the official U.S. federal government website, 67 semiconductor manufacturers around the world submitted data as of 7:30 a.m on Nov. 9 (the Korean standard time). Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were included in the 67 companies. Among them, data from 40 companies were posted on the website after reviews by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The deadline was 2 p.m. on Nov. 9 in the Korean standard time.
Taiwan's TSMC, the world’s No. 1 foundry players, submitted data, excluding confidential information such as specific customer data, on Nov. 5. Other Taiwanese companies, including UMC, the fourth-largest foundry company in the world, ASE, a semiconductor packaging test company, and Global Wafers, a semiconductor wafer producer, also handed in their data. So did American companies such as Micron Technology and Western Digital.
At the end of September, the U.S. government asked semiconductor manufacturers around the world to submit 26 items of information, including customer names, technology stages, sales and inventory levels. At the time, chipmakers and their governments raised concern that submitting such information can cause problems such as a leak of trade secrets.
Facing strong opposition from companies and governments, the U.S. government stepped back and requested chipmakers to submit semiconductor transaction data by industry instead of by customer.
The U.S. government may demand additional data in the process of analyzing the submitted information. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in an interview with Reuters that additional measures would be taken if there is not enough data. Tensions remain, as the U.S. secretary of commerce once said that she could force the submission of such information based on the Defense Acquisition Act (DPA).