(Bloomberg) — A senior U.S. official is expected to visit Japan and the Netherlands to ask the two countries to add new restrictions on China’s semiconductor sector, including on its ability to make next-generation memory chips needed for intelligence artificial.
Bloomberg’s Most Read
U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez will pressure his counterparts in Tokyo and The Hague to impose more limits on the activities in China of Dutch supplier ASML Holding NV and Japan’s Tokyo Electron Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. subject. Estevez’s requests, part of an ongoing dialogue with allies, will highlight Chinese chip factories developing so-called high-bandwidth memory chips, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.
ASML and Tokyo Electron machines are used to produce dynamic arrays of random access memory, which are stacked to form HBM chips. Chinese companies working on HBM chips include Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of China’s top memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., according to China enterprise data provider Qichacha. are also developing the HBM.
The Biden administration has tried for years to limit China’s ability to buy and produce advanced semiconductors, arguing that such measures are necessary for national security. However, results have been mixed, with Huawei and others making significant progress. The US is seeking support from allies, who have implemented their own less stringent controls, to create a more effective global blockade.
“The United States is the most important player in the global semiconductor equipment industry, but it is far from the only country that matters. Japan and the Netherlands are also important suppliers of semiconductor equipment,” said Gregory Allen, director of the Wadhwani Center for AI and Advanced Technologies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The Netherlands and Japan have restrictions on exports, but not on services, and this is a critical constraint on the overall architecture of technology controls.”
Estevez is expected to repeat the U.S. standing request that the two countries increase restrictions on the ability of ASML and Tokyo Electron to maintain and repair their other advanced equipment in China as well, the people said. The U.S. has already imposed such restrictions on American rivals such as Applied Materials Inc. and Lam Research Corp.
The US delegation’s visit to the Netherlands is expected to take place after the new Dutch cabinet takes office, in the first week of July. Reinette Klever of far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party is expected to become minister of foreign trade and development aid, a role that normally oversees the country’s export control policies.
The Dutch and Japanese governments have resisted U.S. pressure, people familiar with the matter have previously said. The two countries want more time to assess the impact of current export bans on high-end chip production equipment and to see the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
It is uncertain how the new Dutch government led by Wilders will react to US demands for additional measures. Klever is a co-founder of the far-right TV channel Ongehoord Nederland, which has sparked controversy for its pro-Russian reporting and skepticism about climate change. Outgoing Foreign Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher made a farewell visit to the US last week to lobby for ASML’s interests. Dutch King Willem-Alexander joined Schreinemacher in a meeting with New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
A representative from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security declined to comment. A spokesman for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Trade declined to comment. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry did not respond to requests for comment.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference Wednesday in Beijing that his country opposes U.S. efforts to “coerce other countries to suppress China’s semiconductor industry.” ”.
He added that it was “Beijing’s hope that relevant countries can distinguish right from wrong” and protect their own interests.
HBM chips are an indispensable part of the AI hardware ecosystem because they accelerate memory access, helping to advance AI. AI accelerators, manufactured by Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., must be supplied with HBM chips to function. US authorities are in early-stage talks about restricting the export of HBM chips, Bloomberg reported.
SK Hynix Inc. is the leading producer of HBM chips, with Samsung Electronics Co. and U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc. pushing to catch up. SK Hynix relies on equipment from ASML and Tokyo Electron, according to supply chain data from Bloomberg.
Korean equipment manufacturers, including Hanmi Semiconductor Co. and Hanwha Precision Machinery Co., also play a critical role in HBM’s supply chain. Earlier this year, Washington asked Seoul to restrict the flow of equipment and technologies for manufacturing high-end logic and memory chips to China, Bloomberg News reported.
Chinese companies can no longer buy Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips, but Huawei is developing its own AI accelerators called Ascend. It is unclear which company or companies are supplying advanced memory chips to Huawei. SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron stopped supplying chips to Huawei after the US tightened sanctions against the Chinese company in 2020.
Washington officials are also concerned about China’s progress in chipmaking equipment. Lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit companies that receive U.S. funding for chip factories from purchasing Chinese tooling for those facilities.
–With assistance from Jessica Sui, Yoolim Lee, James Mayger and Bingyan Wang.
(Updates with comment from China’s Foreign Ministry. An earlier version of this story corrected the identity of the U.S. politician in the ninth paragraph to the governor of New York)
Bloomberg Businessweek Most Read
©2024 Bloomberg LP
