Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher statedthat the US export restrictions on China adopted in October 2022 “changed the rules of the game”. And if since 2019 the authorities of the Netherlands have prohibited ASML from supplying everything to China that the United States indicated, then new restrictions will not be introduced this way. In the future, new red flags will be placed only following consultations with allies in Europe and Asia.
Image Source: ASML
Restrictions on the supply of lithographic equipment for the production of semiconductors to China have always existed, although they have been softened or strengthened in one way or another at certain intervals. In 2019, under pressure from the Donald Trump administration, the Dutch authorities banned ASML from supplying EUV (13.5 nm) lithographic scanners to China. The ban did not apply to the supply of DUV (193 nm) scanners, even in the most modern version, which allowed ASML to sell equipment worth regarding 2 billion euros to China in 2021 alone.
October 2022 in the USA took action, which also provide for a ban on the sale of DUV range scanners to China. The ban will affect approximately 5% of the company’s total sales, ASML said. In reality, this figure may be higher, since many related companies that depend on supplies from China may be involved in the process. In any case, according to Lisa Schreinemacher, no one will subscribe to these new requirements without consultation.
Consultations will be held both with European allies, among which the position of Germany is decisive (ASML owns a stake in the company Carl Zeiss and receives optics for scanners from it), and with Asian ones – from Japan, Taiwan and others. If the parties can find common ground, then unprecedented sanctions will be imposed on China in the field of semiconductor production.
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