Electronics

According to the report of Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, Japan and the Netherlands have reached an agreement with the United States to start restricting the export of advanced process chip manufacturing equipment to China, and take measures together with Joe Biden's government to try to cut off China's access to advanced technology.

It is reported that the agreement was reached at a meeting held in Washington last Friday by senior national security officials of the United States, Japan and the Netherlands. This is a progress made by the Biden government in its efforts to persuade the allies to implement export control on companies with key technologies. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

In October 2022, the Biden government decided to impose extensive export restrictions on advanced process chips and equipment in the United States. According to the regulation, American chip manufacturers must obtain the permission of the Ministry of Commerce to export those chips with advanced AI computing and supercomputing.

In recent weeks, Biden personally met with the leaders of Japan and the Netherlands to discuss relevant measures. When Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the White House on January 13, he discussed with Biden the issue of restricting the export of chips and chip manufacturing equipment. On January 17, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with Biden at the White House.

According to the new agreement reached last Friday, the Netherlands will prohibit the lithography machine manufacturer ASML Holding NV from selling at least part of the immersion lithography machine to China, which is the most advanced type of equipment in the company's deep ultraviolet lithography products. This kind of equipment is crucial for manufacturing cutting-edge chips. According to people familiar with the matter, Japan will set similar restrictions on Nikon Corp., Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

The support of the governments of Japan and the Netherlands is crucial to the success of the U.S. export control policy, because a few semiconductor manufacturing equipment manufacturers in these two countries have a significant impact, including Asma, Nikon and Tokyo Electric Ltd. (8035. TO).

The meeting on Friday was hosted by Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, and attended by Takeo Akiba, the chief national security adviser of Masao Shoda, and other Japanese and Dutch officials. Other participants from the United States included Alan Estevez, Deputy Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Affairs, and Tarun Chhabra of the National Security Council.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, Japan's Minister of Economy and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday that Japan was discussing further export controls with the United States, but did not disclose details.

The representative of Nikon said that the company carried out business in China within the permitted scope and did not hear any news from the government about the tightening of regulation. The lithography machines produced by the company for chip manufacturing may be affected by stricter control.

A spokesman for Asma in the United States said that the company knew the agreement reached last Friday, but did not have more details, and said it was too early to assess the impact on the company.

Although allies such as the European Union, Japan and South Korea are working increasingly closely with the United States to try to slow down China's technological progress, these countries have frequent commercial exchanges with China and will be very cautious when implementing export control policies. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reports.