Us, Strengthens restrictions on AI semiconductor exports to China...Semiconductor stock prices plunge
The United States government further strengthened semiconductor export regulations targeting China, causing AI semiconductor-related stocks to plummet drastically on the 16th (local time) in the New York stock market. Amid growing concerns about worsening first-quarter earnings due to expanded regulations, selling pressure is spreading across the tech sector, expanding volatility across the market.
On this day in the New York stock market, Nvidia's stock price closed at $104.49, down 6.87% from the previous day. During the day, the decline almost reached 10%, even threatening the $100 mark. Nvidia announced that its AI chip H20 has been designated as a new export permit item by the U.S. government, and expects a loss of $5.5 billion (about 7.8 trillion won) in the first quarter of the fiscal year from February to April due to this.
H20 is a version with reduced performance of the existing H100 chip, a product sold to China avoiding the U.S. government's existing regulations. However, as the Trump administration expanded the scope of regulations, even this chip became difficult to export, and this measure directly hit the performance since there were massive orders from Chinese companies before the export restrictions.
AMD, which is attracting attention along with Nvidia, is in a similar situation. AMD predicted a loss of $800 million (about 1.1 trillion won) as the export of the MI308 chip to China was blocked, and the stock price fell 7.35%. Intel is also reported to have been notified by U.S. authorities that its AI accelerator Gaudi requires pre-export approval.
On this day, the entire semiconductor sector fell together, with Broadcom down 2.43%, Taiwan TSMC down 3.57%, and Qualcomm down 2.06%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, composed of semiconductor-related stocks, plunged 4.1%, recording an unusual phenomenon where all 30 stocks in the index fell.
The repercussions also spread to semiconductor equipment companies. The Netherlands' ASML announced that the first-quarter new orders released on this day fell significantly below market expectations, and the stock price fell 7.06%. ASML said, "Tariffs and export controls are adding uncertainty to global semiconductor demand."
Although tech stocks showed a strong upward trend since the beginning of the year, the rise was halted as President Trump strengthened tariff pressures on major trading countries and expanded AI semiconductor export regulations. Most major tech stocks such as Apple (-3.89%), Tesla (-4.94%), Microsoft (-3.66%), Meta (-3.68%), Google parent company Alphabet (-2%), and Amazon (-2.93%) also fell sharply.
Solita Marcelli, a global strategist at UBS, warned that "the conflict surrounding the electronics industry between the U.S. and China is likely to continue brinkmanship in the short term," and "these measures could harden into long-term policies beyond temporary responses." The market is expected to react sensitively to policy risks for the time being.