Following the Dutch government’s announcement on Friday of additional export restrictions on advanced tools used in chip manufacturing, the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands said: published An open letter expressing strong opposition to the decision and calling for the decision to be withdrawn.
“We urge the Dutch side to immediately rectify the wrongdoing, bearing in mind the great interest of safeguarding international trade rules and bilateral economic and trade cooperation,” the embassy said in a statement.
At the request of the United States, the Netherlands this week significantly expanded its list of sanctioned tools, including DUV machines, restricting China’s access.Until now, only her advanced EUV machine access was restricted, but the expansion to
The more common DUV machines greatly expand the list of machines subject to sanctions.
The embassy criticized the move, calling it an “abuse of export control measures” and a subversion of free trade and international trade rules. The embassy also highlighted the potential harm to both Chinese and Dutch companies and warned of disruptions to global supply chains.
They also accused “one major power,” namely the United States, of manipulating an ally to impose an economic containment on China. The embassy expressed China’s willingness to safeguard its rights and cooperate with the Dutch side for the mutual benefit of China-Dutch economic and trade relations, and urged the Netherlands to rectify these actions immediately.
New export regulations set by the Netherlands, which will come into force on September 1, grant ASML, the world’s leading manufacturer of lithography scanners, an export license to sell its Twinscan NXT:2000i and more advanced scanners to Chinese companies are required to do so. According to the company. The scanner uses deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography and can manufacture chips. 7nm and 5nm class process technology.
Dutch restrictions on the Chinese semiconductor sector under the guise of national security are less stringent than those imposed by the U.S. government last October. These export controls include export licenses for U.S. tools and technology that can be used to manufacture logic chips with non-planar transistors on the 14nm/16nm node and below, 3D NAND with 128 layers and above, and half-18nm DRAM memory chips. is required. Below pitch. Additionally, the rule requires American citizens to obtain licenses to work for Chinese semiconductor companies.
Lithography tools are among the most complex pieces of equipment used in chip manufacturing fabs. ASML is the undisputed leader in this market and it will be decades before the Chinese company catches up with the Twinscan NXT:2000i. On the other hand, without access to US tools from companies such as Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research, it would be impossible to manufacture chips using the latest technology anyway.
As a result, the new Dutch government regulation will have a dramatic impact on China’s semiconductor industry, especially given the fact that SMIC is the only Chinese company capable of producing 14nm-class process technology and thinner chips. won’t give. . Nevertheless, the announcement provoked strong opposition from the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands.
