Asian Tech Press (Mar. 17) -- South Korea said Thursday that it plans to cut import tariffs on key material gases used for chipmaking to zero in April.

The move follows further worsening of the supply chain crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Ukraine is a major supplier of raw materials in semiconductor manufacturing worldwide, including neon, argon, krypton, xenon and other gases, and has supplied nearly 70% of global production of neon gas, which is essential for semiconductor manufacturing.

The Korean government said that it plans to reduce tariffs on the three materials, including neon, xenon and krypton, from the current 5.5 % to zero in April, as the country relies heavily on imports of them from Russia and Ukraine.