Exclusive-Samsung, SK Hynix to be spared brunt of China memory chip crackdown -sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration plans to spare SK Hynix and Samsung from the brunt of new restrictions on DRAM and flash memory chip makers in China aimed at thwarting Beijing's technological ambitions and blocking its military advances, sources said.

The Commerce Department, which plans to release new curbs on exports of technology to China this week, will likely deny requests by U.S. suppliers to send equipment to Chinese firms like Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd (YMTC) and ChangXin Memory Technologies, Inc (CXMT) if they are making advanced DRAM or flash memory chips, the sources said.

However, license requests to sell equipment to foreign companies making advanced memory chips in China will be reviewed on a case by case basis, sources said, potentially allowing for them to receive the equipment.

"The goal is not to hurt non-indigenous companies," one of the people briefed on the matter said.

The White House and Commerce Department declined to comment. SK Hynix, Samsung, YMTC, CXMT and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chris Sanders and Richard Chang)

By Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld