The United States reportedly plans to allow South Korean semiconductor manufacturers to maintain and expand their existing chip-making operations in China without reprisal.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez told an audience at an industry gathering last week that the government aims to extend exemptions for South Korean and Taiwanese chip manufacturers with facilities in China.

The remarks came despite calls within the U.S. to reconsider the exemptions for South Korean chipmakers in light of China’s recent ban on U.S. memory chip giant Micron Technology.

Seoul’s industry, trade and energy minister Lee Chang-yang said last Friday that the exemptions are expected to be extended for a significant period of time, even after the expiration of the original grace period in October.

The report in the Journal cited industry executives as saying that the decision amounts to an acknowledgement by Washington that isolating China from high-tech goods in a highly integrated global industry is more difficult than anticipated.