The US government has granted an annual licence to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to import US chip manufacturing equipment to its facilities in Nanjing, China, the chipmaker said on Thursday.

The approval “ensures uninterrupted fab operations and product deliveries,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have also received similar import licences.

Previously, the Asian companies had benefited from exemptions from Washington’s sweeping restrictions on chip-related exports to China, part of US efforts to try to stay ahead of China in technological development.

But those privileges - known as validated end-user status - expired on December 31, and the companies had to seek US export licences instead for 2026.

“The US Department of Commerce has granted TSMC Nanjing an annual export license that allows US export-controlled items to be supplied to TSMC Nanjing without the need for individual vendor licenses,” TSMC said in its statement.

It added the licence “ensures uninterrupted fab operations and product deliveries”.

The Nanjing plant makes 16-nanometre and other mature node chips - not TSMC’s most-advanced semiconductors. TSMC also has a chipmaking plant in Shanghai.

In its 2024 annual report, TSMC said its Nanjing site generated about 2.4% of overall revenue.