WASHINGTON – The Netherlands and Japan, makers of the world’s most advanced equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, agreed Friday to join forces with the United States to ban shipments of their most high-tech machines to China. said several people familiar with the
The deal, which follows a high-level meeting with U.S. national security officials in Washington, expands the scope of sweeping restrictions unilaterally issued by the Biden administration in October on the types of semiconductor technology that can be shared with China. help you to
The countries have not publicly announced the agreement, citing confidentiality reasons, and details remain unknown. But the deal is likely to put the technology industries of both countries on a more level playing field, preventing Japanese and Dutch companies from rushing to grab market share in China that American companies have given up. seems to be US companies say the possibility puts them at a disadvantage.
The White House and the Dutch government declined to comment. The Japanese government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In October last year, the United States claimed that the Chinese government could use the technology for military purposes, such as deciphering U.S. codes and guiding hypersonic missiles, alleging that semiconductors and the machinery used to make them would be exported to China. severely restricted the sale of But long before those restrictions were in place, the United States had put pressure on the Netherlands and Japan to further limit the advanced technology they exported to China.
The October rule also cracked down on certain shipments to China from countries outside the United States.
The Biden administration has used a new regulation called the Foreign Direct Products Rule to prohibit companies using US technology, software or input from selling certain advanced semiconductors to China. However, these measures only applied to the chips, not the machines used to make them.
Instead, the White House continued to push allies to pass regulations restricting the sale of semiconductor manufacturing equipment by companies such as the Netherlands’ ASML and Japan’s Tokyo Electron. The White House argued that selling this advanced machine to China created the danger that Beijing would one day create its own version of the advanced product, which was no longer available from the United States.
Negotiations likely to continue had to overcome commercial and logistical concerns. Emily Benson, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Relations, a Washington think tank, said the Netherlands and Japan, like the United States, were concerned that exiting the Chinese market would allow foreign competitors to take over. Over time, it “can impact our ability to maintain a technological edge over our competitors,” she said.
The Dutch government has banned sales to China of cutting-edge semiconductor machinery called extreme ultraviolet lithography systems. But the US is also urging the Netherlands to limit a less advanced system called deep UV lithography. The deal agreed on Friday included at least some restrictions on the equipment, according to people familiar with the terms.
Governments are also facing questions about whether they have the legal authority to issue restrictions like the U.S., and extensive technical debate about what technologies to restrict. It is likely that it will still take time to change laws and regulations to introduce new restrictions, and it could take months or years for the restrictions of the three countries to reflect each other. Benson added.
This article was originally published in The New York Times.
