Japan stated on Friday it should limit exports of 23 forms of semiconductor manufacturing tools, aligning its expertise commerce controls with a US push to curb China’s means to make superior chips.
Japan, dwelling to main world chip tools makers comparable to Nikon and Tokyo Electron, didn’t specify China because the goal of the measures, saying tools makers would wish to hunt export permission for all areas.
“We’re fulfilling our accountability as a technological nation to contribute to worldwide peace and stability,” Minister for Financial system, Commerce and Trade Yasutoshi Nishimura informed a information convention.
Japan needs to cease superior expertise getting used for army functions and doesn’t have one particular nation in thoughts with the measures, he stated.
However Japan’s choice is seen as a significant diplomatic win for US President Joe Biden’s administration, which in October introduced sweeping restrictions on China’s entry to US chipmaking tech to sluggish its technological and army advances.
With out the cooperation of trade heavyweights Japan and the Netherlands, the US measures can be ineffective and its firms would face a aggressive drawback.
Japan and the Netherlands in January agreed to affix the U.S. in limiting tools exports to China that might be used to fabricate sub-14 nanometre chips, however didn’t announce the pact to keep away from upsetting China, sources stated earlier.
Japan has by no means publicly acknowledged any settlement.
A nanometre, or one-billionth of a metre, refers to a selected semiconductor trade expertise, with fewer nanometres typically which means the chip is extra superior.
Within the Netherlands, the federal government stated in a letter to parliament this month it deliberate to limit chipmaking tools exports. Dutch main ASML Holding NV dominates the marketplace for lithography methods used to create chips’ minute circuitry.
China, which has accused the US of being a “tech hegemony” due to its export restrictions, urged the Netherlands “to not observe export management measure by sure international locations”.
Restricted Impression?
Japan stated it could impose export controls on six classes of kit utilized in chip manufacturing, together with cleansing, deposition, lithography and etching.
The restrictions, efficient from July, are more likely to have an effect on tools manufactured by no less than a dozen Japanese firms, comparable to Nikon, Tokyo Electron, Display screen Holdings, and Advantest.
Takamoto Suzuki, head of financial analysis for Marubeni in China, stated the measures can be a blow to Japanese tools makers given the absence of a powerful home chip market.
“It is going to undermine the market improvement of Japanese firms and definitely cut back their competitiveness from a regulatory side,” he stated.
When requested in regards to the influence, minister Nishimura stated, with out elaborating, that he anticipated restricted influence on home firms.
Some trade watchers level to potential gross sales elsewhere.
“In case you take a long-term view, the impact shall be diminished, with new semiconductor crops coming into operation in locations like the USA and Japan,” stated Takahiro Shinada, a professor at Japan’s Tohoku College.
Japan, which as soon as dominated chip manufacturing however has seen its market share slip to about 10 p.c, remains to be a significant provider of chipmaking machines and semiconductor supplies. Tokyo Electron and Display screen make round a fifth of the world’s chipmaking instruments, whereas Shin-Etsu Chemical and Sumco produce most silicone wafers.
Shares of Nikon and Advantest rose 0.8 p.c and 1.9 p.c respectively after the information, broadly in keeping with the broader market’s 1.1 p.c rise. Tokyo Electron and Display screen had been little modified.
“We’ll proceed to adjust to any guidelines and work to maximise our outcomes inside them,” a Nikon spokesperson stated.
Tokyo Electron and Advantest declined to remark.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
About The Author
