Although there would be no public announcement and it would take months to finalize the agreement, this could mean a severe blow for China in its technology race|rawpixel|Public Domain
The US finally persuaded Japan and the Netherlands to follow its path in limiting the export of advanced chip manufacturing machines to China, sources close to the highly-confidential agreement say.
Though there would be no public announcement, and it would take months to finalize the agreement, this could mean a severe blow for China in its technology race. Chinese firms would have limited access to vital chip manufacturing technologies from companies like ASML, Nikon and Tokyo Electron.
ASML, in the Netherlands, manufactures ultraviolet lithography machines—critical to producing advanced semiconductors. ASML is not allowed to ship its most-advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) systems to China.
The company also manufactures deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) machines, which are older and earlier could ship these DUVs to China. But with the new restrictions in place, even these may be out of Beijing’s reach.
The restrictions play out well for the US since President Joe Biden signed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act last August to boost domestic chip manufacturing.