Korean companies are taking it badly. Commerce granted SK Hynix a one-year waiver. Samsung Electronics will benefit from the same period of grace. But 12 months doesn't give you any visibility for a business this size. It feels like Korean chip makers backed the wrong horse. They thought winning the China race was the key to maintaining a cutting edge in the memory chip segment. Especially at a time when they felt the heat from Japan trying to catch up. South Korea's relative weakness as an equipment and materials supplier was exacerbated by Tokyo's lead in this segment. Japan's mid-2019 decision to restrict the export of the chemicals needed for their memory chips was a mess. Seoul is sleepwalking through the crisis since then. YoY change in semiconductor sales turned negative in July. Just three weeks ago Seoul signed a new Collaborative Supply Chain Council with China. At the same time, the Chip 4 forum isn't going anywhere. So Biden is playing hardball by blocking the shipment of EUV lithography equipment to Wuxi, where SK makes a serious chunk of its revenues. What kind of madness is that? Korean chipmakers are trying to move in two different directions at the same time, all they will get is tearing the country's trade policy apart.