Dutch government tells parliament of plan to restrict chip tech exports -sources (updated)
08/03/2023 18:25
(Adds detail from Dutch government)
By Karen Freifeld, Toby Sterling and Alexandra Alper
March 8 (Reuters) - The Dutch government told Parliament
on Wednesday that it plans to draft additional rules restricting
exports of semiconductor technology to protect national
security, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The planned rules are one of the first official signs the
Dutch are moving forward in response to pressure from the U.S.
to place curbs on the technology it sends to China.
The move follows months of discussions between the
Netherlands, the U.S. and Japan, in which Washington has tried
to get allies to adopt similar restrictions to those it
introduced in October aimed at hobbling China's ability to make
semiconductors and to slow its military advances.
While officials said a high-level agreement between
countries was reached in January, the Dutch government said it
would not simply adopt U.S. rules and Netherlands Prime Minister
Mark Rutte said it was uncertain whether new rules would ever be
"visible."
The policy statement, which will be released once Dutch
Parliament has been informed, is not expected to contain
technical details of what equipment will be restricted, nor will
it name China, an important Dutch trading partner, one source
said.
Netherlands Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher is expected
to explain in interviews the new rules will ultimately make it
possible to restrict the export of some advanced lithography
tools made by ASML Holding NV ASML.AS , a key supplier to
semiconductor manufacturers and Europe's largest technology
firm.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling
Editing by Mark Potter and Anna Driver)
((toby.sterling@thomsonreuters.com;))