US, Japan, Netherlands Agree to Restrict Chip-Making Equipment Exports to China

Japan and the Netherlands have made a joint agreement with the US to restrict exports of advanced chip-manufacturing equipment to China, The Wall Street Journal reports(Opens in a new window).

The agreement, which was reportedly made in Washington on Friday, comes after the Biden administration has been urging allies to limit their exports of advanced chips to China.

The Journal reports that the agreement has not been formally announced by any of the three countries because Japan and the Netherlands expressed concern that China could retaliate against the restrictions. 

The agreement means that the Netherlands will prevent Dutch photolithography machine maker ASML Holding NV from selling to China “at least some” of its immersion lithography machines. This equipment is reportedly essential to the making of cutting-edge chips. 

Meanwhile, Japan is to reportedly set similar limits on Nikon Corp.

The meeting was reportedly led by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and included Japanese and Dutch officials such as Takeo Akiba, Alan Estevez, undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security, and Tarun Chhabra of the National Security Council. 

While the agreement has been made, its implementation could take a while. In response to a question about the negotiations on Friday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “Talks are ongoing, for a long time already, but we don’t communicate about this. And if something would come out of this, it is questionable if this will be made very visible.

Mark Rutte and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met President Biden at the White House on Jan. 17 and Jan. 13 respectively to discuss the export limits. 

In October, the White House imposed export restrictions on advanced chips and chipmaking equipment made in the US. The novel restrictions come because Washington is concerned that the technology could be used by the Chinese government to build supercomputers that can create nuclear weapons. Those controls prevent US companies from shipping the most advanced chips or semiconductor manufacturing tech to China. 

Earlier this month, PC maker Dell announced it would stop using chips from China in its products before the close of 2024.