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.
