Japan restricts chipmaking equipment exports as US seeks to contain China

The government will impose export controls on 23 types of leading-edge technology used to transform silicon into chips

The move follows months of lobbying by the US to get Tokyo to join it in tightening shipments of semiconductor tools to Beijing

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A worker producing semiconductor chips at a factory in Suqian, China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:15pm, 31 Mar 2023Updated: 1:16pm, 31 Mar 2023

Japan said it will expand restrictions on exports of 23 types of leading-edge chipmaking technology, as the US ratchets up efforts to limit China’s access to key semiconductor know-how.

About 10 Japanese companies including leading gearmaker Tokyo Electron Ltd. would need to get licenses to ship a broader-than-expected array of equipment used to transform silicon into chips, spanning cleaning, deposition, annealing, lithography, etching and testing.

Tokyo’s move follows months of lobbying by the US to get Japan to join it in tightening shipments of semiconductor tools to China. Japan and the Netherlands had agreed in principle to join the US, but have sought to chart a middle road between the two superpowers.

Japan Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the move was not in coordination with the US’s restrictions.

“If our exports are not being reappropriated for military use, we would continue exporting,” he told reporters on Friday. “We believe the impact on companies will be limited.”

Chip-related stocks fell on the news, with Tokyo Electron reversing gains to trade down almost 1 per cent. Nikon Corp., Screen Holdings Co., Lasertec Corp. and Advantest Corp. all pared gains.