Chip machine manufacturer ASML in Veldhoven says that the American government has put pressure on the Dutch government to reprimand the company. The company writes this in a press release. ASML exported an additional number of DUV machines to China in the last quarter of last year because this was still allowed at the time. Yet it was reprimanded for this by the US and the Netherlands.
The company says it has requested and received more clarity in discussions with the US government.
These are so-called DUV chip machines that are used to make chips for many everyday devices such as cars, washing machines and security cameras. The machines cost around 80 to 90 million euros each.
‘Some customers’
The Dutch government has banned the export of these chip machines to China from this year. This happened under pressure from the US, which wants to prevent China from acquiring important technology such as that of ASML. ASML says it fully complies with all laws and regulations in the countries where it operates.
According to ASML, this has affected ‘some customers in China’, but the export ban has no impact on the profits of the Veldhoven group. The new rules would only come into effect this year, so it is striking that the company has already been reprimanded earlier.
Sought after knowledge
There was already a ban on the most advanced chip machine, the EUV. This applies structures to chips using extreme ultraviolet light (EUV). This makes the chips work faster. These machines are even more expensive and cost approximately 150 million each.
With the export ban on chip machines, the US wants to hold back Chinese technological progress and prevent China from developing an advanced independent chip industry. ASML knowledge is in demand in China. A Chinese former employee who took trade secrets from ASML with him in 2022 subsequently worked for some time at the Chinese tech giant Huawei, it emerged last year.
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