ASML Limit On Lithography Eqp't Exports Starts September

Dutch companies producing machines that make advanced semiconductor processor chips will be required to have export licenses before they can sell them overseas starting in September, the government announced, Mike Corder reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Duch company ASML is the world’s only producer of machines that use extreme ultraviolet lithography to make advanced semiconductor chips.

The new measure, first announced in March, “is country neutral,” the government said. It is seen as part of a US policy that aims at restricting China’s access to materials used to make such chips, which can be used in military technology.

It will affect Duch company ASML, the world’s only producer of machines that use extreme ultraviolet lithography to make advanced semiconductor chips.

The Dutch government has prohibited the Veldhoven-based company from exporting some of its machines to China since 2019.

″We have taken this step in the interest of our national security. It is good that the companies concerned now know where they stand. This way they can adapt to the new regulations in time,” Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said in a statement.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited US President Joe Biden in January for talks that included discussions about ASML’s advanced chip machines.

The US in October imposed export controls to limit China’s access to advanced chips, which it says can be used to make weapons, commit human rights abuses and improve the speed and accuracy of its military logistics.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic