US wants Dutch supplier to ban the sale of deep ultraviolet lithography machines to China

The U.S. government proposed to the Dutch government to ask lithography machine manufacturer ASML to stop selling lithography machines to China to curb the development of Chinese chips. At present, ASML mainly provides old lithography machines to Chinese chip manufacturers, such as extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which are restricted from being sold to China. But even so, Chinese chip manufacturers are developing rapidly, the proportion of chip production capacity is gradually increasing, and it is possible to break through the technical blockade of the United States. Now the United States hopes that the Dutch government will expand the scope of control over the export of lithography machines, including the sale of deep ultraviolet lithography machines whose technology itself is already outdated.

2pem, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

People familiar with the matter said the request was made by the undersecretary of the U.S. Commerce Department, who made the request while visiting supply chains in the Netherlands and Belgium. At the same time, he also went to the ASML headquarters to hold talks with the CEO of ASML. However, there is no news from the media on whether a similar request was made during the talks.

The Dutch government has yet to agree to additional restrictions on ASML’s exports of lithography machines to China, as this could damage the Netherlands’ trade relationship with China. However, due to export control reasons, ASML has been unable to provide Chinese chip manufacturers with the most advanced lithography machine in the industry – the extreme ultraviolet lithography machine (EUV). As for the relatively backward deep ultraviolet lithography machine (DUV), it can be sold and can be used to produce peripheral chips for automobiles, smartphones, and computers. ASML has previously stated that the deep ultraviolet lithography machine is not within the scope of export control, and it can be exported directly to China without additional approval from the Dutch government.

Via: Bloomberg