SK Hynix seeks China export approval to build US chip plant

SK Hynix is navigating a delicate trade-off between its U.S. and Chinese manufacturing footprints. The company’s flash memory unit, Solidigm, is seeking U.S. government approval to send American chipmaking equipment to its factory in Dalian, China, as a condition for continuing to build a semiconductor plant in the U.S., Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. Solidigm has reportedly been drawing up plans to build a NAND flash memory chip factory in the U.S., with upstate New York under consideration as a potential site. According to Reuters’ sources, Solidigm wants to install additional chipmaking equipment in spare space at SK Hynix’s existing Dalian factory to boost NAND chip production there.

NAND flash chips are used primarily in solid-state storage drives, which show up in everything from laptops and smartphones to AI data centers. A global component shortage, driven by surging demand for AI data centers, has pushed up prices across the data-center supply chain, including high-speed RAM chips and SSDs. Research firm TrendForce expects NAND prices to rise 15% to 20% in the fourth quarter.

SK Hynix told TechCrunch it is not seeking to expand capacity at its Dalian Mod B facility, which was completed in 2023, and said the equipment installation is being carried out in consultation with, and under authorization from, the U.S. government. Washington first imposed sweeping restrictions on advanced chips and chipmaking-equipment exports to China in October 2022, citing national security concerns, and tightened the rules further in 2023. In September 2025, the Trump administration revoked special export exemptions that had covered certain SK Hynix, Samsung, and Intel facilities in China; the U.S. has since granted Samsung and SK Hynix annual licenses to keep sending chipmaking equipment to their Chinese plants.

Washington has also pushed foreign chipmakers to build and expand manufacturing in the U.S. In July, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he wanted Samsung and SK Hynix to build chip plants domestically and that he was in talks with both companies. Solidigm, meanwhile, is said to be preparing for a 2027 U.S. IPO that could raise around $10 billion and value the company at up to $100 billion.

Why it matters

The episode shows how closely export controls now shape memory makers’ manufacturing choices: even a planned U.S. factory can hinge on Washington’s willingness to let equipment flow the other way, into China. With NAND prices already set to climb, deals like this one could feed into the cost of AI data-center storage.