Author | zer0
Edit |Desert Shadow
On March 7, foreign media quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the United States is putting pressure on allies such as the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, and Japan to further tighten restrictions on China's access to semiconductor technology, a controversial move that has been resisted in some countries.
The U.S. wants Japanese companies to limit exports to China of specialty chemicals needed to make chips, including photoresists; and pressured the Netherlands to prevent lithography giant ASML from repairing and servicing chip-making equipment for Chinese customers purchased before the sales restrictions were imposed. In addition, the United States wants to pull more countries into its export controls, and is trying to include Germany and South Korea in an agreement that already includes Japan and the Netherlands, because all four countries are home to key companies on the semiconductor chain.
Biden's latest move** aims to close a gap in export controls over the past two years and limit China's progress in developing its own chip capabilities. Its latest move to tighten restrictions concerns the ability of Japanese and Dutch engineers to continue to carry out some equipment repairs, as well as the flow of spare parts used in chip manufacturing equipment.
Tokyo and The Hague have reacted lukewarmly to the latest U.S.** efforts and want to assess the impact of current restrictions before considering stricter measures, people familiar with the matter said. The U.S. Department of Commerce raised the issue at a meeting in Tokyo last month, according to people familiar with the matter. Representatives from the Netherlands, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry declined to comment.
For Germany, one of the key players is Carl Zeiss, which supplies key optical components to ASML. The United States wants Germany to get Zeiss to stop exporting such components to China. The Netherlands also wants Germany to join export controls, and US Joe Biden is pushing for a deal ahead of the G7 summit in June.
Berlin, Germany, considered whether to restrict the export of chip chemicals to China last year, but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is scheduled to visit China in April, has not yet made a position on the issue, according to people familiar with the matter. Scholz's deputy, Robert Habeck, will visit the United States this week, during which he will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo.
In addition, the United States has held talks with South Korea on chip export controls, given South Korea's dominance in producing chips and supplying spare parts for chip manufacturing equipment. The two countries launched an organized dialogue in February after the United States asked South Korea to join multilateral organizations last year, according to some people familiar with the matter.
In response to the continuous tightening of chip export control measures to China by the United States and the increase of pressure on Chinese semiconductor companies, China's spokesperson has responded at a regular press conference on January 8 this year
The U.S. has continuously increased its chip export control measures against China and unreasonably suppressed Chinese semiconductor companies on the grounds of so-called **, which is an out-and-out act of economic bullying. ”
The U.S. imposition of semiconductor export control measures against China constitutes a discriminatory approach against China and violates the principle of most-favored-nation treatment under Article 1 of the GATT. The United States blacklisted relevant Chinese telecommunications equipment companies on the grounds of threatening network information security and prohibited Chinese-made telecommunications equipment from entering the U.S. market, violating the principle of universal lifting of quantitative restrictions stipulated in Article 11 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). At the same time, the US ban also violates the relevant provisions of the Agreement on Technical Barriers. The US side often talks about "international rules," but what it really does is ignore and break rules. ”
The United States uses ** as an excuse to restrict the export of chips to China, but in fact, the relevant measures completely go beyond the boundaries of the concept of ***, so that the normal ** of ordinary civilian chips is greatly restricted. "The U.S. side has also coerced some countries to suppress China's related companies, which has nothing to do with security and is a typical economic coercion. ”
The facts clearly show that the US is deliberately suppressing the development of China's chip industry, not out of "first-class considerations, let alone legitimate competition", but a unilateral bullying behavior without a principled bottom line, depriving emerging markets and developing countries of their right to pursue a happy life. The actions of the US have seriously undermined the stability of the international supply chain, poisoned the atmosphere of international cooperation, and fueled confrontation. This self-serving approach is destined to shoot itself in the foot. ”
In addition, Nvidia mentioned in the document submitted to the U.S. ** Exchange Commission that if the United States ** increases restrictions on chip exports, it will further damage Nvidia's competitiveness, China's *** spokesperson commented at a regular press conference on February 27:
Facts have proved that the high walls of small courtyards cannot stop the pace of China's innovation and development, nor are they conducive to the healthy development of the entire industry, including US enterprises. Open collaboration is the core driver of the semiconductor industry. China is one of the world's major semiconductor markets. It is not in the interest of any party to artificially fragment the market, undermine the stability of the global supply chain, and hinder efficiency and innovation. The US should abide by the principles of market economy and fair competition, and support enterprises of other countries in promoting scientific and technological development and progress through healthy competition. ”