Denying China IC Manufacturing Tools

The significance of the US-Japan-Netherlands pact not to send chip-making equipment to China is unknowable while the details of the restricted equipment remain unknown, but it could bring China’s chip-making to a halt at 28nm.

If the pact also includes a ban on Western technicians going over to China to keep installed machines running, then existing China semiconductor operations will be severely affected.

The pact is a smart move by the Americans who, no doubt, have zero wish to fulfil Lenin’s prophecy that “the capitalists will sell us the rope with which we hang them.”

 China had tried to take the short-cut route to chip self-sufficiency – buying in the manufacturing equipment it needs, stealing the process technology and the software and recruiting Western brains.

That’s the quick route to competence but not the safe and sure route of developing these competencies internally.

If China was not threatening the world militarily, politically and culturally there would be no need to deny them Western exports. But they are, and it’s sensible to deny them.

For the meantime, China is doubtless trying to find companies which do have access to foundries to  get its advanced SoC designs fabbed.


Comments

2 comments

  1. The fact that they have to keep it in “secret” for an administration that like to brag every single China “win” for political reasons let me to believe that they agree to no very much, probably just the most advanced ASML scanners like their NXT:2100 and TEL EUV track equipment. To make things even worse the Chinese already produce or are in the process of developing most in their semiconductor manufacturing equipment, including advance lithography machines (even EUV) and software. So the pressure for Japanese and European politicians will significantly increase as Chinese suppliers start to take over the Chinese market. Japanese and Europeans politicians are more susceptible to their companies pressure than their less mentally sane US counterparts. At the end of the day everything will level off between Chinese made equipment and non US equipment. Until the pressure from US companies make them to soften their controls, it will probably be too late by then and regaining market share again will be an uphill battle.

  2. Will any of this further encourage China to bring Taiwan under its close political control? I don’t have any meaningful suggestions, but the future is looking a bit sketchy.

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