China faces chip export restrictions from Japan

The Japanese government has announced export restrictions on advanced chip manufacturing machines. China is not mentioned in the restrictions, but in practice they are intended to make export to this country more difficult. The restrictions were already expected.

The Japanese government extends existing export restrictions to 23 products, including EUV production machines and etching equipment for 3D memory, writes Nikkei Asia. The restrictions mean that companies must seek approval from the Japanese government before selling the product to a country that the Japanese government does not see as friendly, such as China.

Ten companies, including Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings and Nikon, are likely to be affected by the extensive restrictions. These companies say to Reuters not yet knowing what impact this will have on their bottom line. The law will go into public consultation on Friday, and is expected to be officially announced in May. This could then come into effect from July.

It was already expected that Japan would impose export restrictions on advanced chip production machines. Bloomberg sources reported last December that Japan, along with the Netherlands, agreed to implement such restrictions. Tweakers previously wrote a background article about the chip restrictions, which aim to make it more difficult for China to develop supercomputers for AI and military purposes.