(ATTN: UPDATES with the trade ministry's responses in last 3 paras; ADDS 2nd photo)

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a proclamation to impose a 15 percent tariff on polysilicon derivative products, a move intended to protect America's polysilicon manufacturing, which is crucial for semiconductor and solar panel production.

The latest trade action will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 4 (Washington time), the White House said, as South Korea's chip industry has been closely monitoring the U.S. measure for its potential impact on business operations in the United States.

The proclamation also includes the imposition of minimum import prices for polysilicon and its derivatives, as the U.S. is stepping up efforts to maintain its technological edge amid intensifying competition with China over artificial intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge technologies.

"Polysilicon is the base material underpinning the security of America's semiconductor and solar-power supply chains. Yet for decades, America has allowed foreign countries to weaken U.S. producers in the polysilicon sector, eroding our economic and national security," Trump said in the proclamation.

"Today, I am taking action to put a stop to these practices and revitalize the U.S. polysilicon sector," he added.

Aside from the tariff, the proclamation entails the imposition of minimum import prices for polysilicon and its derivatives, set at US$21 per kilogram for polysilicon, $100 per kg for polysilicon ingots and wafers, $0.22 per watt for solar cells, and $0.38 per watt for solar modules.

The minimum price program is meant to "create a level playing field for American producers of these strategic goods," the White House explained.

Trump took the latest tariff action under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 -- a law that gives the president authority to adjust imports when he determines they threaten to impair national security.

The Trump administration has been leveraging tariffs as a key tool to reduce America's trade deficits, bolster its manufacturing, and increase state revenue and foreign investments, though its trade policy has repeatedly been challenged in court.

"This is a series of trade and tariff actions under Section 232, intended to ensure that domestic polysilicon manufacturing is properly supported and protected from overseas dumping and offshore threats," White House Staff Secretary William Scharf said of the proclamation as Trump was preparing to sign the document.

"Like many of your previous trade actions, this is intended to ensure that we're onshoring manufacturing capacity, that we're onshoring our own supply of critical products, and that we're protecting American industry from malign foreign actors in that space," he added.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick noted that polysilicon is a "foundational" product that is used to make silicon wafers for AI chips.

"We're making the products here, but we need the supply chain here," he said. "So this will bring the supply chain here. We're setting prices so that the Chinese can't dump anymore, and we're setting tariffs to say (you) build it here."

In response to the U.S.' action, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it will soon hold a meeting with relevant ministries and companies to assess the impact of the latest tariff on South Korea's exports to the United States as well as how it will affect Korean businesses.

The government will also hold close consultations with Washington to minimize the fallout on trade and Korean businesses, the ministry said.

In 2025, South Korea's exports of polysilicon and polysilicon derivatives to the U.S. were estimated at $2.2 million and $430 million, respectively, it said.

sshluck@yna.co.kr

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