Dutch chip maker ASML denies reports delayed China order is due to US pressure, says it needs export licence
- China’s biggest computer chip maker SMIC placed an order with ASML in April last year for cutting-edge EUVs but the shipment is still pending
Europe’s leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML has denied media reports that delays in the shipment of hi-tech machinery to China meant that it was bowing to US pressure, saying the decision was made because it is waiting for an export licence to be approved.
“ASML just follows the law,” said a spokeswoman for ASML on Friday. “The law says that you need an export licence to ship Extreme Ultraviolet lithography machines (EUVs) [to China]. We have applied for a licence,” said the spokeswoman.
“We want to serve our customers all over the world,” added the ASML spokeswoman.
EUVs are crucial in the memory and semiconductor manufacturing process. Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged China to become more self-sufficient in key strategic technologies, such as advanced chip manufacturing.
China’s biggest contract computer chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) placed the order with ASML in April last year for its cutting-edge EUVs but that shipment is still blocked pending further notice, according to a Nikkei report on Wednesday, citing three people close to the situation.
The Nikkei report also attributed the delayed machinery order to the ongoing tech war between the US and China, which has seen Washington attempt to curb Chinese development of a variety of emerging technologies on national security and human rights grounds, such as the recent addition of several leading facial recognition companies to a trade blacklist.
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The ASML spokeswoman said this was an incorrect reading of events.
“A request for the renewal/extension of the export licence for EUVs to China is currently being processed by the Dutch government,” said the ASML spokeswoman. “Pending [the outcome] of this process we cannot ship EUVs to China. We are in close contact with the export licence authorities. We do not comment on pending application procedures.”
Calls to a SMIC spokesman on Friday were not answered and the company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. SMIC told the Shanghai Securities Journal on Thursday that the EUV delivery is still at the “paperwork” stage.
America and China, the world’s two biggest economies, are jostling for dominance in a variety of advanced technologies, including 5G networks, quantum computing and AI amid China’s efforts to use them to transform its economy into an innovation-driven powerhouse. Although the two sides are said to be close to a phase one trade agreement, many analysts expect the tech war to remain ongoing for the foreseeable future.
Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment vendor, was placed on the US Commerce Department’s so-called Entity List in May, which bars them from buying technologies deemed as “US-origin” unless they gain special approval from Washington.
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