Chinese ambassador warns Dutch government against restricting ASML supplies | Nasdaq / Reuters |

Trade relations between China and the Netherlands would be damaged if Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier ASML is not allowed to ship its newest machines to China, Beijing's ambassador to the Netherlands was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Reuters reported last week that the Netherlands had withheld the licence ASML needs to export its newest machines to China following pressure from the U.S. government. .

ASML, one of the Netherlands' largest companies, is a near monopolist in lithography, an essential step in the manufacture of computer chips. China has invested billions to develop its burgeoning semiconductor industry, but needs ASML equipment if its chipmakers are to compete with the best in Taiwan, South Korea and the United States.

"We are concerned that the Netherlands is politicizing our trade relationship under American pressure," Chinese ambassador Xu Hong was quoted as saying in the Het Financieele Dagblad newspaper.

○ H.E. Dr. Xu Hong is the new Chinese Ambassador in The Hague | Diplomat Magazine |

Dutch company caught in crossfire of Sino-US feud for tech supremacy ...

Exclusive: ASML chip tool delivery to China delayed amid US ire | Nikkei Asian Review - Nov. 6, 2019 |

Europe's largest manufacturer of specialized chipmaking machines, has fallen prey to Washington's desire to curb Beijing's technological ascent and delayed shipment of a crucial tool needed to develop China's semiconductor industry, the Nikkei Asian Review has learned.

ASML's move comes as the U.S. carefully scrutinizes all major companies in Chinese tech supply chains, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest chipmaker, which supplies chips to Huawei, the Chinese tech company that the U.S. has accused of spying.

China's biggest maker of computer chips, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., placed the order with ASML in April last year for its cutting-edge machine, which is needed to produce the latest, most powerful chips. But that shipment is now "pending later notice," three people close to the situation said.

As the world's sole supplier of the so-called extreme ultraviolet lithography chip tool, or EUV, the delayed shipment is a blow to Beijing's aspirations to achieve self-sufficient, technological supremacy. However, ASML's use of the word "delay" suggests that eventual shipment has not been ruled out.

A sound investment from the Dutch company ...

○ ASML acquires SVG, becomes largest litho supplier | EE Times - Feb. 2000 |

○ ASML of the Netherlands reached an agreement with the U.S. government to try and sell the lens-polishing operation SVG's Tinsley Unit

Dutch chipmaking equipment manufacturer ASM Lithography said it received approval from the U.S. government to go ahead with its bid for California-based Silicon Valley Group Inc.

ASML said in a statement it will try to sell Silicon Valley Group's optical unit, Tinsley Laboratories, which was the source of concerns on the part of the U.S. Defense Department.

Military officials feared the technology, used for making lenses for spy satellites, could fall into the hands of countries the U.S. does not like.