The U.S. wants to prevent China from buying advanced chip manufacturing equipment

The U.S. is asking ASML, the Netherlands company known for its advanced semiconductor production machinery, to not export its technology to China amid the ongoing race for semiconductor supremacy.

China has set its sights on ASML’s machines that use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography capable fabricate sub-10 nanometre transistors. These machines cost around $150 million each and China wants a lot of them to bolster its domestic chip production.

However, as China is pressuring the Dutch government to approve the sales, the U.S. is asking them to block it, reminding the Netherlands that ASML’s machines wouldn’t work without U.S. components, components the U.S. could stop exporting to the country at any time.

Over the years, the U.S. has placed restrictive policies around sharing technologies with China for the sake of national security and to cement its lead in the tech race. It’s now urging other nations to do the same.

Under the new policies, many big Chinese technology companies are blocked from using semiconductor producers, called foundries, that use U.S. technology in their processes. Banned companies include China’s consumer giant Huawei and its chip design subsidiary HiSilicon. The restrictions caused Huawei to lose access to the Taiwanese Semiconductor  Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest foundry right on China’s doorstep.

Caught in the unfortunate tug of war between two superpowers, the Dutch government and ASML are in a bind. China is a significant business opportunity for the Netherlands, but approving exports would mean souring the country’s relationship with the U.S.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Tom Li
Tom Li
Telecommunication and consumer hardware are Tom's main beats at IT World Canada. He loves to talk about Canada's network infrastructure, semiconductor products, and of course, anything hot and new in the consumer technology space. You'll also occasionally see his name appended to articles on cloud, security, and SaaS-related news. If you're ever up for a lengthy discussion about the nuances of each of the above sectors or have an upcoming product that people will love, feel free to drop him a line at tli@itwc.ca.

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now