Japan and the Netherlands to join US in imposing chip ban on China, Bloomberg revealed in a report. The goal is “to undermine Beijing’s ambition to build its own national chip capabilities,” according to people familiar with the situation.
Dutch company ASML Holding HV will be prevented from transferring deep ultraviolet lithography machines used for chip production and similar restrictions will be placed on Japan’s Nikon Corp.
The joint effort is an expansion of US President Joe Biden’s agenda to limit China’s ability to produce and develop its own semiconductors, used for artificial intelligence and machine learning in the military, but will also affect the mobile technology industry.
US equipment makers have complained that limiting only American companies to trade with China is affecting the balance with competitors, which has led the Dutch and Japanese governments to reconsider how ASML, along with Tokyo Electron, is exporting such machinery.
The moves barely hit the stock market but Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International, the largest chipmaker in mainland China. Hua Hong Semiconductor shares also saw a slight decline in shares, and the offshore yuan price fell 0.1%.
ASML CEO Peter Wennink has warned that US-led control over the export of lithography machinery will eventually push China to develop its own advanced equipment. “It will take some time, but they will get there eventually,” the executive said.
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