As a leading chip machine manufacturer in the Netherlands, ASML is of great significance for semiconductor manufacturing. Washington’s wish is that fewer chips and equipment to make semiconductors go to China. In this way, the United States wants to prevent China from developing more and more weapons with the latest technology. But key allies, including the Netherlands and Japan, have not yet been persuaded to actually implement these restrictions.
According to Paul Verhagen, an American expert at the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague (HCSS), there is consensus among countries that China is the rival and that the country should be denied chip technology. “But the question now is where do you draw the line?”
ASML has so far only met the Americans by not supplying China with its EUV chip machines, the latest and most advanced machines for making the most modern chips. CEO Peter Wennink recently indicated that ASML isn’t experiencing much of this due to major investments in other areas. But the US also wants old DUV machines no longer allowed to go to China. And that would have important consequences for ASML. The company derives a large part of its turnover from Asian countries.
Compromise
Verhagen finds it difficult to say what a compromise the ASML can live with would be. ‘New factories are currently under construction in the United States by the Taiwanese TCMS. It seems technically logical to me that Americans want ASML machines in there.’ Verhagen calls this a possible compromise option: ‘ASML’s total turnover is decreasing slightly, which means that more of the total turnover goes to research and development. I can imagine that some grant streams could take place to support R&D costs.’ But exactly how it will be, according to him, is up to lawyers, jurists and politicians.
So far, the Dutch government has refused to go along with Washington’s plans. «But it would make much more sense to have a Western technological axis with the Americans rather than a European technological axis against the Americans. After all, Europe cannot win it.’