US, Japan, Netherlands may announce ban on chipmaking tools’ export to China: Report 

US, Japan, and the Netherlands are reportedly planning to impose joint restrictions on exports of chipmaking tools to China as the race to dethrone Beijing heats up. The confirmation came from a Washington official who refused to divulge further details.“We can’t talk about the deal right now. But you can certainly talk to our friends inJapanand the Netherlands,” Guardian quoted Don Graves, deputy commerce department secretary, as saying on the sidelines of an event in Washington.

On Friday, Bloomberg and Reuters both reported that an agreement on the same had been finalised.

In October, the United States imposed sweeping export restrictions on shipments of chipmaking tools torestrict China’s capacity to expand its chip industry and enhance its military capabilities.

However, Washington needed the consensus of Netherlands and Japan, home to major chipmakers ASML and Tokyo Electron, among others.

In an email, the US commerce department said that it would continue to coordinate on export controls with foreign allies, calling this a “priority”.

“We recognise that multilateral controls are more effective than unilateral controls.”

On Friday, officials from the Netherlands and Japan landed in Washington to discuss a wide-ranging issue with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Commenting on the agreement on semiconductors, US President Joe Biden said: “Yes, we talked about a lot of things, but a lot of it is private.”

US has been seeking to break the monopoly of China’s semiconductor industry. Beijing has invested money into cultivating its domestic industry but its fabrication plants, known as fabs, still heavily rely on foreign-made equipment.

SMIC, China’s largest fab, makes chips that go into products for the automotive sector, internet-of-things devices and some smartphones.

(With inputs from agencies)

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