The “Chip War” between the US and China is raging. Beijing accuses Washington of “technological terrorism”
As Washington and Beijing move towards technology decoupling, chips and semiconductor equipment have become the focus of national security efforts. The US has imposed export controls to prevent Chinese technology companies from buying chips and equipment in the US. Now Washington is pushing the Netherlands to ban one of its major chip makers from selling semiconductor equipment to Chinese companies.
Bloomberg first reported Washington's recommendation to Dutch chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV to stop selling some of its older deep ultraviolet lithography, or DUV, systems. Even though these machines are a generation behind the cutting edge, they can still produce high-tech chips for automobiles and consumer electronics.
In response to Bloomberg's report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian criticized Washington on Wednesday for "tech terrorism" as a veritable tech war rages between the two countries.
“This is yet another example of the US practice of coercive diplomacy through the abuse of state power and technological hegemony. It is classic technological terrorism… This will only remind all countries of the risks of technological dependence on the United States and push them to become independent and self-sufficient at a faster pace, ”Zhao said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. ..
Washington also pressured Japan to stop shipping semiconductor manufacturing machines to China.
In recent years, Chinese producers have not stood still. Amir Anvarzadeh of Asymmetric Advisors said: "Chinese chip makers have been hoarding second-hand equipment since the Trump era."
Anvarzadeh said banning the most advanced machines "is clearly not enough to stop China's progress in semiconductors, especially since many of the chips used for defense use much less advanced geometry." At the center of the dispute is precisely the importance of Chips in military components, which is proving essential on the battlefield of Ukraine.
After Trump-era tariffs on consumer goods and export restrictions on semiconductor chips and equipment for Chinese companies, China has been the largest buyer of chip manufacturing equipment over the past two years.
Trump's move to initiate restrictions continued under the Biden administration, showing a much broader issue of America's survival and concern that China might catch up in the chip race.
Industry analysts believe a total freeze on machinery exports is unlikely, but a sharp decline is certain, in an attempt to limit China's development. The Netherlands will probably not block the export of technologies already on the market, however, by competitors. At the same time we understand how much Taiwan, the hub of chip and machinery manufacturing, is becoming more important for Beijing every day, making possible military conquest more and more probable.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles of Economic Scenarios.
The article The "Chip War" between the US and China is raging. Beijing accuses Washington of "technological terrorism" comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/infuria-la-guerra-dei-chip-fra-usa-e-cina-pechino-accusa-washington-di-terrorismo-tecnologico/ on Mon, 11 Jul 2022 08:00:23 +0000.