Asian Tech Press (OCT 19) -- Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will visit the United States as early as the end of October, according to Korean media reports. Lee has applied for a U.S. visa and is expected to finalize the site of the company's new U.S. foundry during the trip.

Samsung Electronics announced in May 2021 that it plans to invest $17 billion to build a second chip foundry in the U.S. The move is one of Samsung's measures to strengthen its chip supply capacity in the U.S. in addition to and in response to the U.S. request for chip supply capacity.

Currently, Tyler, Texas, is the frontrunner among the five candidate sites. The city council of Tyler finally approved a resolution on October 14 on the Samsung Electronics support program, which includes tax incentives and water support. The resolution calls for Samsung Electronics to provide 92.5 percent of land property taxes as a subsidy for the first ten years, 90 percent for the next ten years, and 85 percent for the second 10 years. It also includes measures to provide water and power support for the foundry.

Samsung Electronics is expected to resume its merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, which have been suspended since it acquired Harman in 2016. "As far as I know, Samsung Electronics is working on a large M&A deal, and the M&A targets could include an automotive semiconductor maker." said one industry source.