Jan 2, 2024 at 12:48 AM Update: 18 minutes ago
Chip machine manufacturer ASML reports that the Dutch government recently partially revoked a permit for the supply of a number of advanced DuV machines in 2023. Even though the export restriction for chip machines was not yet in force.
ASML’s move has affected a small number of customers in China, the company said. Bloomberg reported on Monday evening that ASML canceled a number of deliveries to China at the end of last year at the request of the United States, even though it probably still had permission to do so.
“In recent discussions with the US government, ASML has received further clarification on the scope and impact of US export control regulations,” ASML said in a statement on its website. The company reports that the latest US export rules from mid-October impose restrictions on certain DuV systems at “a limited number of advanced manufacturing facilities”.
The duv systems are the penultimate generation of machines that ASML builds. The abbreviation stands for ‘deep ultraviolet’.
ASML also says it is fully prepared to comply with the export rules and also reports that it does not expect any consequences for the financial expectations for 2023.
Bloomberg news agency stated on Monday that ASML had permits to supply a number of DuV machines to Chinese companies until the end of last year, before the export restrictions that were previously imposed on the Veldhoven company actually came into effect. But according to anonymous sources, it was American officials who asked the company to refrain from doing so. And that would also have been heeded.
According to Bloomberg, it is unclear how many machines, which cost tens of millions each, were ultimately not shipped. American national security advisor Jake Sullivan approached the Dutch government about the case at the end of last year. But according to the anonymous sources, Sullivan was asked to contact ASML directly about this. Both the US government and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the matter to Bloomberg.
ASML is a world leader in the development of chip machines. The semiconductor equipment is used to make chips for a variety of applications such as smartphones, servers, electric cars and advanced military equipment.
Partly because of this, ASML has become the center of geopolitical tensions between China and the United States in recent years. The Americans want no advanced chip technology to be exported to China to prevent the Chinese from using the chips for military purposes.
2024-01-01 23:48:41
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