China’s ruling communist party has expressed dissatisfaction after the Netherlands updated its export control regulations to include two additional advanced chipmaking machines manufactured by Dutch company ASML.
The ASML TWINSCAN NXT:1970i and 1980i DUV immersion lithography systems, which are photolithography machines, have already been under U.S. export control for nearly a year.
In response to the update, ASML stated that it will now need to obtain export licenses from the Dutch government rather than the U.S. government in order to export these systems.
The Dutch government, in announcing the new rules, explained that these machines, when combined with technologies from other countries, can be used to produce semiconductors that are crucial for advanced military applications.
Unrestrained export of this equipment, therefore, poses potential risks to Dutch security interests, the department emphasized.
The ministry further asserted that the United States has repeatedly expanded the definition of national security as a means to maintain its global dominance. This rhetoric on hegemony is a recurring theme in Beijing’s ongoing efforts to present its governance system as an alternative to the liberal-democratic-led international rules-based order headed by the United States and its allies.
During the Trump administration, the United States had lobbied Japan and the Netherlands to cease the sale of high-end chipmaking equipment to Chinese firms. Additionally, Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and semiconductor manufacturer SMIC were added to the Entity List as part of the administration’s efforts.
ASML holds a virtual monopoly on extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), a technology that utilizes extreme ultraviolet rays to fabricate transistors for the most advanced microchips. The Dutch company also leads in deep ultraviolet immersion lithography (DUV).
Due to pressure from the United States, the Dutch government has refrained from allowing ASML to export its state-of-the-art EUV tools to customers based in China.
Starting in September 2023, the Dutch government began requiring ASML to obtain export licenses for the sale of the company’s most advanced DUV equipment outside of the European Union.
The two newly added systems to the export control list, announced on Friday, fall within the middle range of ASML’s product lineup.
These systems were already included in the U.S. regulations announced in October 2023, which restricted their sale based on the argument that they contain certain components manufactured in the United States.
The interest in the 1980i and 1970i machines stems from the success achieved by China-based firms, such as SMIC, in producing advanced chips through the repeated use of silicon wafers under these DUV tools, a process commonly referred to as multipatterning.
At an event in New York on Wednesday, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet mentioned that China-based chipmakers will be able to manufacture chips at technology levels of 7nm, 5nm, and eventually 3nm using DUV tools, surpassing the limits set by Washington.
However, he also noted that chipmakers employing this technique will encounter increasingly poor yields, thereby making their objective of demonstrating engineering prowess economically unviable.
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