Chinese Semiconductor Industry: This Western Chip Ban Alliance Stinks

China's main semiconductor trade organization has released a statement opposing the alliance between Japan, the Netherlands, and the US to restrict chip exports to the country.

"CSIA opposes the act of interfering in global trade liberalization, distorting the balance of supply and demand," said the China Semiconductor Industry Association.

The trade org also alleged that the reason the semiconductor industry is prospering today is due to "global market and collaborative innovations" and the restrictions will "cause serious harm" to the industry in China, the global economy, and consumer interest worldwide.

It called on Beijing and relevant agencies to establish rules for maintaining a "global semiconductor industry ecology."

Talks to persuade Japan and the Netherlands to join the US in bans on exporting chip technology to China have been ongoing. Through sanctions, the US has sought to prevent China from developing military technology. The bans are also a protest against China's human rights abuses.

Chinese chipmakers like Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) and China's largest foundry operator, SMIC, are already feeling the pinch.

• China's top chipmaker pivots to domestic sales, struggles to satisfy demand
• Japan, Netherlands reportedly join US in China tech export ban
• Japan may go easy on China over export bans on chipmaking equipment
• ASML says Chinese employee stole data as US sanctions bite

As the US is not the only chip or related equipment maker in the world, it became necessary for the country to get buy-in from other nations.

Japan and the Netherlands are both at the forefront of chip equipment production. The Netherlands' ASML is the leading maker of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, for which it already halted exports to China, and Japan's Canon and Nikon make deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines.

At the end of January, the three nations reportedly came to an agreement. But details of that agreement were kept secret until an interview with a Japanese politician revealed that the country might be less strict with its rules than the US.

Meanwhile, Beijing has pondered a ban of its own, potentially for photovoltaic silicon wafer technology. ®