A US official was heading to Japan after meeting with the Dutch government to try to push allies to further restrict China’s ability to produce cutting-edge semiconductors, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
US Undersecretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez was trying to build on last year’s agreement between the three countries to keep chipmaking equipment from China that could help to modernize its military.
In response, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said that Beijing was opposed to the US engaging in confrontation and “coercing other countries and suppressing China’s semiconductor industry.”
Photo: Reuters
“This behavior has seriously hindered the development of the global semiconductor industry and will eventually backfire,” Lin told a press briefing in Beijing yesterday.
A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed a meeting had taken place in the Netherlands on Monday.
The Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry said it has various exchanges with the US, but would not comment on diplomatic interactions.
The US first imposed restrictions in 2022 on shipments of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China from companies including California-based Nvidia Corp and Lam Research Corp.
To align with US policy, Japan — home to chip equipment makers Nikon Corp and Tokyo Electron Ltd — in July last year curbed exports of 23 types of equipment, from machines that deposit films on silicon wafers to devices that etch out the microscopic circuits.
Then the Dutch government began to regulate Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV’s sales of deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography system sales to China and the US imposed restrictions on additional DUV machines to a handful of Chinese factories, claiming jurisdiction because ASML’s systems contain US parts and components. ASML is the world’s biggest chip equipment maker by sales and market capitalization.
Washington is talking to allies about adding 11 more Chinese chipmaking factories to a restricted list, the person said.
There are currently five factories on the list, the person said, including China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯).
The US also says it wants to control additional chipmaking equipment, the person said.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce declined to comment.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday’s meeting was part of ongoing talks on export policy and security between the US and the Netherlands.
The Netherlands “always has continual contact with our allies,” the spokesperson said.
US officials visited the Netherlands in April to try to stop ASML from servicing certain equipment in China.
However, the ASML servicing contracts are still in place, the person said, adding that the Dutch government does not have the extraterritorial scope to cut them off.
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