US seals deal with Netherlands, Japan to restrict chip exports to China

WASHINGTON Reuters reported that the United States has secured a deal with the Netherlands and Japan to restrict exports of advanced chip-making machinery to China in talks that ended on Friday, according to people familiar with the matter.

The report said that the United States would extend some export controls to companies based in the two allied nations, including ASML Holding, Nikon Corp and Tokyo Electron.

In Washington, officials from the Netherlands and Japan were talking about a wide range of issues in the talks led by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said earlier that the officials were talking about issues that are important to all three of us. The safety and security of emerging technologies is going to be on that agenda, he told reporters.

The talks also discussed restrictions on the export of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China, according to a source familiar with the talks.

The United States President Joe Biden's administration, in October, announced sweeping restrictions on Beijing's access to US chipmaking technology to slow its technological and military advances by imposing tighter export controls on China, a move that would be a major diplomatic win for the Netherlands and Japan.

When asked about the Bloomberg report, the White House refused to comment beyond Kirby's earlier remarks.

The Dutch foreign ministry and a spokesman for Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry didn't want to say anything.

When Reuters contacted them outside regular business hours, officials at Nikon and Tokyo Electron were not available for comment.

The Netherlands' prime minister Mark Rutte said earlier that it was not clear whether his government would reveal the result of ongoing talks with the United States over new export restrictions for the semiconductor industry.