“Japan, Netherlands join US curbs on semiconductor equipment exports to China”

The Financial Times (FT) and the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 28th (local time) that Japan and the Netherlands agreed to join US policy to control exports of semiconductor equipment to China.

According to the report, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States agreed on the 27th to join the US semiconductor export control to China, which took effect in October last year.

John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator of the White House National Security Council (NSC) said in a briefing on the 27th that aide Jake Sullivan has held talks with the Netherlands and Japan for several days, and that high-tech security issues are on the agenda .

Citing sources, the FT said the three countries had decided not to disclose details due to the sensitivity of the matter. Bloomberg News said it would take several months to actually implement it.

Earlier, in October last year, the United States announced comprehensive export control measures to ban the sale of high-tech semiconductor equipment made in the United States to Chinese semiconductor manufacturers and restrict the export of semiconductor chips. US President Biden also discussed the issue of semiconductor export controls at summits with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte this year.

If this policy expands, exports of deep ultraviolet (DUV) exposure equipment from Dutch semiconductor equipment company ASML and Japanese semiconductor equipment companies such as Nikon and Tokyo Electron are expected to have an impact on exports to China.

In this regard, it is expected that Japan’s semiconductor industry will suffer a significant blow if related measures are implemented.

According to reports by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Kyodo News on the 29th, overseas sales of Japanese semiconductor manufacturing equipment in 2021 will be 2.9705 trillion yen (about 28.2 trillion won), of which China’s sales account for 33% of the total. accounts for a billion yen (about 9.4 trillion won).

In the case of Tokyo Electron, 26% of sales for a year from April 2021 are exports to China. Some devices are said to have a sales share of up to 90% in China.

Kyodo News explained, “Seven of the top 15 semiconductor equipment manufacturers in the world are in Japan.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun pointed out that if Japan introduces new regulations, China may take retaliatory measures.