ASM International (ASMI, the competitor of ASMI), one of the two largest European semiconductor equipment manufacturers headquartered in the Netherlands, revealed that the United States is putting pressure on its allies, hoping that the world's major chip companies will take consistent measures with the United States to deal with China. Implement strict chip controls. Since ASMI has a huge business in the United States, in comparison, it would rather sacrifice sales in China.
The Financial Times reported that ASMI CEO Benjamin Loh said: "There is a lot of pressure from the United States to make sure that the Dutch government and the Japanese government follow suit. The US government hopes this will be a multilateral action because they must prevent everyone from selling advanced tools to China. .”
Alan Estevez, the top U.S. Commerce Department export control official, and Tarun Chhabra, a White House National Security Council official, will travel to the Netherlands this week for talks. The Biden administration has been trying for more than a year to strike a three-way deal with Japan and the Netherlands as part of a strategy aimed at limiting China's development of advanced semiconductors, but has been unsuccessful.
According to ASMI's estimate this month, the US export control will have the most serious impact on the company among major European chip companies, affecting 40% of ASMI's sales to China, and China accounts for 16% of ASMI's revenue.
Loh said: "China accounts for a lot of our business, but it will not kill us." ASMI's "huge business" in Arizona, the United States, has higher exposure to sanctions from Washington.
He added that Chinese customers are struggling trying to get all the components they need to build their intended production lines, but even if they end up buying more equipment from ASMI than expected, without key U.S. resources, China's It is also difficult for advanced fabs to move forward.
U.S. export control impacts the three major chip equipment companies in China - Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA - to two non-US companies, Tokyo Power Technology of Japan and Esmer of the Netherlands ,Less affected. American companies demand "fair" competition, which means multilateral export controls.
However, Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher recently said the Netherlands must "defend our own interests", including economic interests. She said in an interview that the Netherlands will look at the chip market with a "more critical eye" and will not copy the measures of the United States. Her statement is the first time that the Dutch government indirectly refers to the negotiations with the United States and Japan.
