Following comparable US measures, the Dutch authorities is shifting ahead with plans for brand spanking new restrictions on exports of superior chipmaking know-how to China, that are anticipated to have an effect on the manufacturing of DRAM and superior logic modules. .

Export restrictions from the Netherlands have been within the works for a while, and on Wednesday the Dutch authorities launched extra details about its plans.

“These new export controls give attention to superior chip manufacturing know-how, together with probably the most superior deposition and immersion lithography instruments,” in keeping with an announcement from Netherlands-based ASML, a number one world producer of chipping gear. semiconductor manufacturing.

As geopolitical tensions rise between the US and China, US President Joe Biden’s administration has applied controls on semiconductor know-how exports to its fundamental rival superpower, with a purpose to curb improvement superior know-how that might be used for army modernization and human rights abuses. The US has additionally pressured its world allies to do the identical.

Export controls threaten the worldwide provide chain

The US-China chip conflict places world corporations within the crosshairs, as disruption to the semiconductor provide chain can have an effect on a variety of know-how and client items.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Dutch Commerce Minister Liesje Schreinemacher mentioned the brand new Dutch export restrictions would have an effect on “very particular applied sciences within the semiconductor manufacturing cycle,” in keeping with a BBC report.

“The Netherlands considers it vital for causes of nationwide and worldwide safety that this know-how be introduced underneath management as quickly as attainable,” Schreinemacher mentioned, in keeping with the report.

With out naming China or ASML, Schreinemacher talked about that the Dutch authorities had thought-about “technological developments and the geopolitical context” when creating the restrictions, the report added.

ASML mentioned the export controls would require the corporate to use for export licenses for superior DUV (deep ultraviolet) immersion used to make semiconductors.

“On this regard, you will need to notice that the extra export controls don’t apply to all immersion lithography instruments, however solely to what’s termed ‘most superior’. Though ASML has not acquired any further info on the precise definition of ‘most superior’, ASML interprets this as ‘important immersion’ which ASML outlined at our Capital Markets Day as TWINSCAN NXT:2000i and later immersion programs. ASML. .

TWINSCAN NXT:2000i presents superior options for high-volume manufacturing of superior logic modules and DRAMs, in keeping with ASML. Superior logic modules are particularly for servers as they’re designed to deal with giant volumes of information and carry out complicated operations.

The corporate mentioned it “doesn’t anticipate these measures to have a cloth impact on our revealed monetary outlook for 2023 or for our longer-term situations as introduced throughout our Investor Day in November final 12 months.”

US presses allies on chip export restrictions

As a part of a broader commerce conflict with China, the US satisfied the Netherlands and Japan a number of months in the past to come back collectively and ban transfers of some DUV gear. Whereas ASML is a significant producer of the know-how, Japan is residence to DUV gear makers equivalent to Canon, Nikon and Tokyo Electron, making the 2 nations key to the US plan to finish Chinese language dominance within the broader marketplace for microchips.

In the meantime, in an try to cut back its dependence on different nations, China is making investments to spice up its home semiconductor trade.

China will make investments an extra $1.9 billion in Yangtze Reminiscence Applied sciences (YMTC), the nation’s largest producer of reminiscence chips, to spur development of its home semiconductor trade, which is at the moment hampered by US sanctions.

The magnitude of the funding exhibits China’s effort to spice up its struggling native chip trade, which is at the moment dealing with limitations on its manufacturing capabilities from the US and different nations.