Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that the U.S. Biden administration is putting pressure on the Netherlands not to sell lithography systems to Chinese semiconductor companies. The Netherlands’ ASML is the world’s top lithography systems manufacturer primarily for machines to produce computer chips. Even though China urged ASML to sell its EUV lithography system, the Dutch government still retained the export license of ASML EUV. So far, not even one has fallen into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, even though ASML’s CEO Peter Wennink said that export restrictions may backfire. Less than a month after Biden took office, his national security advisor Jacob Sullivan and his Dutch counterparts discussed the “close cooperation” between the two countries on advanced technologies. Sullivan’s top priority is to continue to restrict ASML’s business with China. The Chinese communists hoped to provide domestic chipmakers with US$150 million EUV lithography systems so that Huawei and other Chinese semiconductor companies can reduce their dependence on foreign suppliers.
Source: LTN, July 17, 2021
https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/3607159