Netherlands Blocks ASML's Exports of Some Chip-Making Equipment to China -- Update

By Sherry Qin

Netherlands has blocked chip-equipment manufacturer ASML's exports to China of some lithography systems, which are essential to making advanced microprocessors, in a partial license revocation following U.S. export restrictions.

The Netherlands-based company said Monday that the Dutch government recently partially revoked an export license for shipping the NXT:2050i and NXT:2100i lithography systems to China in 2023.

Dutch semiconductor companies have had to seek government permission since September before they can sell some advanced types of chip-making equipment abroad, the Dutch government said in June. The rule came after national-security officials from the Netherlands, Japan and the U.S. reached an agreement to start restricting such exports, aiming at limiting China's access to advanced semiconductor technologies.

The chip-equipment maker had previously said it could ship restricted chip-making equipment to China until the end of 2023 despite the rule, according to media reports.

ASML specializes in photolithography, the process of using light to print on photosensitive surfaces, a process key to chip makers.

"We do not expect the current revocation of our export license or the latest U.S. export control restrictions to have a material impact on our financial outlook for 2023," the company said in a statement.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the Dutch government to "uphold an objective and fair stance" and take practical action to safeguard China and the Netherlands' common interests and their enterprises.

"China has always opposed the United States' generalization of the concept of national security and its use of various excuses to coerce other countries into imposing a technological blockade against China," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily press briefing on Tuesday, according to Chinese state media.

"The U.S.'s bullying behavior seriously violates international trade rules and seriously damages the global semiconductor industry," Wang added.

Write to Sherry Qin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 02, 2024 04:21 ET (09:21 GMT)

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