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Japan mentioned on Friday it is going to prohibit exports of 23 kinds of semiconductor manufacturing tools, aligning its know-how commerce controls with a US push to curb China’s capability to make superior chips.
Japan, house to main international chip tools makers reminiscent of 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 duty as a technological nation to contribute to worldwide peace and stability,” Minister for Economic system, Commerce and Business Yasutoshi Nishimura instructed a information convention.
Japan desires to cease superior know-how getting used for navy functions and doesn’t have one particular nation in thoughts with the measures, he mentioned.
However Japan’s resolution 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 navy 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 could possibly be used to fabricate sub-14 nanometre chips, however didn’t announce the pact to keep away from frightening China, sources mentioned earlier.
Japan has by no means publicly acknowledged any settlement.
A nanometre, or one-billionth of a metre, refers to a particular semiconductor trade know-how, with fewer nanometres typically which means the chip is extra superior.
Within the Netherlands, the federal government mentioned in a letter to parliament this month it deliberate to limit chipmaking tools exports. Dutch main ASML Holding NV dominates the marketplace for lithography techniques 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 Influence?
Japan mentioned 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 not less than a dozen Japanese firms, reminiscent of Nikon, Tokyo Electron, Display Holdings, and Advantest.
Takamoto Suzuki, head of financial analysis for Marubeni in China, mentioned the measures can be a blow to Japanese tools makers given the absence of a powerful home chip market.
“It can undermine the market growth of Japanese firms and definitely scale back their competitiveness from a regulatory side,” he mentioned.
When requested concerning the impression, minister Nishimura mentioned, with out elaborating, that he anticipated restricted impression 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 US and Japan,” mentioned 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, continues to be a significant provider of chipmaking machines and semiconductor supplies. Tokyo Electron and Display 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 consistent with the broader market’s 1.1 p.c rise. Tokyo Electron and Display had been little modified.
“We’ll proceed to adjust to any guidelines and work to maximise our outcomes inside them,” a Nikon spokesperson mentioned.
Tokyo Electron and Advantest declined to remark.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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