Lithography systems: US committee wants stricter rules for China
The USA is in favour of tightening export restrictions against China. The country is largely dependent on ASML & Co.
ASML's Twinscan NXT:1980Di lithography system, which the manufacturer is currently authorised to continue selling to China.
(Image: ASML)
An investigative committee of the US House of Representatives wants to be even tougher on China's semiconductor industry than before. In a report, the bipartisan committee calls for significantly stricter export rules for manufacturers of systems required for chip production.
The focus is on the Dutch global market leader for lithography systems ASML, Tokyo Electron from Japan, and the three US suppliers, Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research. They build systems for etching silicon wafers and for further processing.
A long tradition
The first export restrictions were imposed by the US government in the late 2010s: The USA urged the Netherlands not to allow ASML to sell lithography systems with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure technology to China. Chip contract manufacturers such as TSMC and Samsung have been using them since the 7-nanometer generation, as they can image fine structures more reliably than previous systems with deep ultraviolet (DUV) exposure technology.
Stricter regulations followed in 2023, which still affect ASML's most modern DUV systems today: The company is only allowed to sell older variants to Chinese manufacturers, which are limited in terms of the orientation of the wafers to be exposed, for example.
The US committee is now lamenting the fact that China is significantly expanding its semiconductor industry despite the sanctions. As an example, it cites 7-nanometer chips that the Chinese chip contract manufacturer SMIC produces for Huawei with multiple exposures.
ASML, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research are expected to have a combined revenue of around USD 38 billion from sales to Chinese companies in 2024. This would correspond to 39 percent of their total annual turnover. ASML alone accounts for a good 10 billion, as the manufacturer discloses in its own annual report.
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Stricter rules
The report focuses on deliveries to SMIC, but also the chip contract manufacturers Pengxinwei (PXW) and Shenzhen Pensun (PST) as well as memory manufacturers such as YMTC and SwaySure Technology. Some companies work closely with Huawei, which is now said to operate its own semiconductor plants.
On the one hand, the committee wants some stricter export restrictions to no longer be linked to companies such as Huawei but to apply to the whole of China. Secondly, even more systems should fall under the restrictions. Manufacturers would then only be allowed to export older types, if at all.
(mma)
