South Korean chipmakers are stepping up their lobbying efforts in Washington to respond to tensions between the United States and China and win key export licenses to supply Chinese companies subject to trade sanctions.

The country’s four major conglomerates, Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group, and LG, are leading this effort as they succumbed to pressure from Washington to produce strategic products such as semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries In the United States.

LG will open a lobbying office in Washington next year after its battery manufacturing unit LG Energy Solution Get involved In a multi-billion-dollar legal dispute with domestic rival SK Innovation, the dispute may undermine Ford’s electric vehicle plans in the United States.The company also had to repay General Motors Expensive electric car recall Defective battery.

South Korean groups are seeking export licenses to supply Chinese companies blacklisted by the United States, including technology group Huawei and chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International. The U.S. Department of Commerce has granted more than $103 billion in export licenses to Huawei and SMIC from November 9, 2020 to April 2021.

An executive of LG Energy Solution said: “We are trying to hire Americans who have ties to Washington because we need to strengthen our ties with the U.S. government and Capitol Hill.”

“As Sino-U.S. relations are deteriorating, the international trade order and ESG are constantly changing, we need to quickly respond to the ever-changing global agenda and minimize commercial risks in the global supply chain. [environmental, social and governance] Require. We need an effective channel to express our position to Washington,” the executive added.

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip manufacturer, set up an internal department this month to manage its US operations to complete a $9 billion acquisition Intel’s Nand flash memory business.

Analysts said that after working hard to upgrade its Dram plant in Xi’an, China, the company is also considering establishing a fab in the United States. The United States has always opposed the export of advanced equipment to China.

“Korean chipmakers now have to deal with the Department of Commerce and the Pentagon more frequently to discuss security issues. Therefore, they need to hire more former US officials as their lobbyists,” said SK Securities analyst Kim Young-woo.

After taking over several US energy companies in recent years, SK E&S, the energy arm of the group, will open a New York office headed by Vice Chairman Yu Jeong-joon in 2022.

“From semiconductors to batteries and hydrogen, US interest in South Korean companies is growing rapidly,” an SK official said. “We will see more executives with overseas business experience emigrating to the United States, and the group will hire more lobbyists to communicate effectively with Washington.”

Samsung Electronics last month appointment Presidential executives lead its equipment solutions business in the United States for the first time. This move is because the company plans to build a $17 billion chip factory in Tyler, Texas.

South Korea’s campaign coincided with rival regional chip makers’ efforts to increase their lobbying influence in the United States.

TSMCThe world’s largest contract chip maker has significantly increased its visibility in Washington. It is building a $12 billion chip factory in Arizona and is competing for the $52 billion chip subsidy announced by President Joe Biden’s administration.

The company hired Nicholas Montella, a former executive from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as its director of government relations last year, and in 2019 it hired Peter Cleveland, a former senior lobbyist from Intel, as its vice president of global policy and legal affairs.

Additional report by Kathrin Hille in Taipei