ASML
, a
Dutch
manufacturer of high-end chipmaking equipment, has reportedly canceled some of its shipments to China at the request of US President Joe
Biden's administration
. This happened weeks before new export bans on the said equipment were put into effect. The Dutch restrictions on the exports would only come into full effect in January.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that while ASML had licences to ship three deep ultraviolet lithography machines to Chinese firms, US officials reached out to them and asked them to halt pre-scheduled shipments of some of the machines to Chinese customers immediately.
Sources tell that the request was made after it was revealed that
SMIC
, the state-backed chipmaker, had used ASML technology to produce
Huawei
's latest flagship processor, the 7nm HiSilicon
Kirin 9000S
.
The US National Security Adviser contacted the Dutch government about ASML's ultraviolet lithography machines. Dutch officials requested the US to contact ASML directly, resulting in some shipments being cancelled. The US had previously pressured the Dutch government to restrict ASML sales to China. As a result, ASML's DUV machines were restricted from being exported to China in January 2021.
China has faced challenges in sourcing advanced lithography machines due to export controls by the US, Japan, and the Netherlands. To overcome this, China has focused on developing its own silicon ecosystem, culminating in the successful production of a homegrown 7nm mobile 5G chip. Between July and November, China's imports of lithography machines surged five times to $3.7 billion. During the same period, China accounted for almost half of ASML's sales, as companies rushed to import their machines ahead of the export controls.
English (US) ·