China is “dissatisfied” with the Dutch government’s decision to expand export controls on ASML Holding NV chipmaking equipment, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement yesterday.
The Dutch government on Friday said it would expand export licensing requirements for ASML’s 1970i and 1980i Deep Ultraviolet immersion lithography tools, aligning its rules with export restrictions the US unilaterally imposed on the machines last year.
Beijing has repeatedly criticized Washington’s strategy of pressuring allies, such as the Netherlands and Japan, to join export controls targeting Chinese access to cutting-edge chips and chipmaking equipment.
Photo: Rob Engelaar, EPA-EFE
“In recent years, in order to maintain its global hegemony, the US has continued to ... coerce certain countries to tighten export control measures for semiconductors and [related] equipment ... China is resolutely opposed to this,” the ministry said in response to the Dutch government’s announcement on Friday.
The Dutch should not abuse export controls, avoid measures that damage Sino-Dutch cooperation in semiconductors and safeguard the “common interests of Chinese and Dutch enterprises,” it added.
US lobbying has effectively stopped ASML, the world’s biggest vendor of chipmaking equipment, from exporting its most advanced lithography systems to China to slow Beijing’s technological and military advances.
The decision was made “for our safety,” Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Reinette Klever said on Friday. “We see that due to technological developments, there are more safety risks in the export of these specific production machines.”
ASML said in a statement that it did not expect the change in oversight to impact earnings this year or in the future.
Under US pressure, the Dutch government has never allowed ASML to ship its very best EUV tools to Chinese customers.
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