July 16, 2026
Top Story
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick renewed pressure on Samsung and SK Hynix to build memory chip plants in the US, speaking at a concrete-pouring ceremony for Micron’s new fab in Clay, New York. He confirmed talks are already underway with both Korean chipmakers, and noted Micron’s CEO may not welcome the added competition.
The push follows Samsung and SK Hynix’s June 29 announcement of a combined 800 trillion won buildout in Korea’s Honam region. Neither company has committed to new US fabs beyond existing plans.
Trade & Tariff
Section 122’s 10% global tariff expires July 24 (capped by statute at 15%, 150 days max).
BCW Legal Watch
The Court of International Trade ruled the IEEPA tariffs unlawful in May 2026.
The USTR has proposed a 12.5% Section 301 tariff on 46 countries, including Korea, but it is not yet finalized. We will continue to monitor.
PIECES Magazine (CoreAxis Lab) just published a Q&A with Don on cross-cultural, cross-border leadership. The through-line: global expansion doesn’t succeed on how rigidly a company holds its headquarters’ playbook, but on how fast and accurately it adapts to local realities.
“The companies that struggle are usually the ones trying to run the local operation on headquarters’ timing and assumptions rather than adapting to how business actually gets done on the ground.”
Three takeaways:
- The real barrier isn’t language or market knowledge: it’s speed of adaptation to local decision-making and trust structures.
- The home-market playbook that built success: cadence, reporting lines, how authority is set, is exactly what a team reads differently.
- The leaders who matter operate credibly in both systems at once, knowing when to apply the HQ approach and when to defer to local practice.
Read the full interview: coreaxislab.com
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