According to Reuters, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on June 23 that despite differences between ASML, a Dutch company specializing in lithography equipment, and the United States regarding its export business to China, the Netherlands will still join the US-led 'Silicon Valley Initiative'.
Reuters believes that the involvement of the Netherlands in the "Silicon Peace" initiative is an important progress made by the United States in promoting technology diplomacy.
On the occasion of this announcement, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Bernt Marjaas is conducting lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., to object to the proposed "Multilateral Agreement on Hardware Technology Control" (MATCH Act) in the United States. This act would mandate that American allies implement the same export control measures against China.
Although the United States and China have reached an agreement to restrict ASML’s export of high-end equipment needed for manufacturing artificial intelligence chips to China, there are differences between the two parties regarding whether ASML can sell such equipment to Chinese customers or provide some low-end equipment.
The US Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Helberg leads the ‘Silicon Peace’ initiative. It is expected that Helberg and Schultzma will jointly announce this initiative, stating that the cooperation mechanism will take into account both trade development and economic security. The European Union is also expected to join this organization in the future.
The United States launched the "Silicon for Peace" initiative in December last year. According to the official website of the US State Department, this initiative aims to build a silicon supply chain that includes key minerals and energy inputs, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics.
Currently, countries such as South Korea and Japan have joined the 'Silicon Peace' initiative. Although TSMC, a leading chip manufacturer, is located in Taiwan region of China and has not signed an official membership agreement, it has expressed its support for this alliance.
Regarding the situation where the United States is coercing the Netherlands to impose a technological blockade on China, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously responded that China has always opposed the United States' generalization of the concept of national security and its use of various pretexts to force other countries to impose such blockades on China. Semiconductors are highly globalized industries. In the context of deep economic integration among countries, the US's hegemonic and bullying actions seriously violate international trade rules, severely undermine the global semiconductor industry structure, and pose a threat to the security and stability of the international industrial chain and supply chain. Such actions will inevitably have adverse consequences for the United States itself.
China urges the Netherlands to maintain an objective and fair stance, as well as market principles. They should respect the spirit of contracts and take concrete actions to safeguard the common interests of China and the Netherlands, as well as those of their respective enterprises. This will help preserve the stability of the international industrial and supply chains, as well as a free, open, fair, and non-discriminatory international trade environment. China will closely monitor any related developments and will resolutely defend its own legal rights and interests.
