Netherlands, Japan Join U.S. In Limiting Chip Tech Exports To China

Japan and the Netherlands have agreed to a deal with the U.S. to restrict China’s access to materials used to make advanced computer chips, a person familiar with the agreement told Dee-Ann Durbin and Aamer Madhani of the Associated Press (AP).

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

The Biden administration in October imposed export controls to limit China’s ability to access 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.

It urged allies like Japan and the Netherlands to follow suit. China has responded angrily, saying trade curbs will disrupt supply chains and the global economic recovery.

Veldhoven, Netherlands-based ASML is the world’s only producer of machines that use extreme ultraviolet lithography to make advanced semiconductor chips. The Dutch government has prohibited ASML from exporting that equipment to China since 2019, but the company had still been shipping lower-quality lithography systems to China.

ASML has research and manufacturing centers in Beijing and Shenzhen, China, as well as a regional headquarters in Hong Kong.

US officials say China is spending heavily to develop its fledgling semiconductor producers but so far cannot make the high-end chips used in the most advanced smartphones and other devices, Mike Corder also reported for AP.

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