Dutch officials will soon travel to Washington to discuss chip export restrictions to China. Sources report this to Reuters. Officials from the Netherlands and the US are expected to meet on Friday and possibly close another deal this month.
An agreement could be announced this Friday if the two countries can agree on details, tells one of the sources to news agency Reuters. The source adds that it is also possible that a possible deal will not be immediately announced publicly.
The talks between the Netherlands and the United States will follow on far-reaching export restrictions introduced by the US in October. The country thus restricts the export of advanced chips, as well as equipment that can be used to make such chips. The US is in talks with the Netherlands and Japan to introduce similar restrictions. Both countries have important positions in the export of advanced chip production equipment.
In the case of the Netherlands, this would involve lithography machines from Veldhoven-based ASML. That company is not allowed to supply EUV machines to China under the Wassenaar agreement. The US wants the less advanced duv machines to no longer be supplied to China. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte was recently in the United States to discuss export restrictions to China, although as far as is known no concrete agreement has yet been concluded.
According to Reuters sources, the Netherlands is still concerned that even small export restrictions could exacerbate the global shortage of chips. According to the sources, Dutch officials also insist that restrictions be aligned with national security interests and do not give the impression that the US is trying to favor its own chip sector.
