Japan And The Netherlands Finally Agreed With The US To Limit Chip Exports To China

Japan and the Netherlands agree with the US (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Biden administration has reportedly reached an agreement with the Japanese and Dutch governments to limit China's access to advanced chip-making machines.

Based on a report shared by Bloomberg via Engadget on Friday, officials from both countries have agreed to adopt some of the export controls US uses to prevent state-of-the-art technology brands like NVIDIA from being sold to China.

"Talks are ongoing, it's been a long time, but we haven't communicated about this. And if something is going to come out of this, it's questionable whether this will be visible," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday, responding to a question about negotiations.

The agreement will reportedly look at export controls imposed on companies that manufacture litography systems, including ASML and Nikon.

In 2022, ASML is the only company in the world that produces extreme ultraviolet lithography machines (EUVs) that chipmakers need to make 5nm and 3nm semiconductors that power the latest smartphones and computers.

According to them, cutting China from ASML products is the Biden administration's attempt to freeze the country's domestic chip industry.

The deal appears to be inversely proportional to statements from Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher some time ago, who said the Netherlands refused to accept new restrictions from the US to export chip-making technology to China. However, the three countries, the US, the Netherlands and Japan, did not plan to disclose the agreement publicly, as its implementation would take months.