TOKYO (Reuters) – Akira Amari, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Diet Members’ League for Semiconductor Strategy Promotion, who has influence over Japan’s economic security policy, said in an interview with Reuters on the 8th that Japan’s agreement with the U. Regarding export restrictions to China, while cutting-edge products will be subject, other restrictions may differ among the three countries.
Mr. Amari said, “We will never release the most advanced high-end products. Japan, the US and Europe will discuss what to do with products that are several generations behind.” He said he had received an explanation from the government about the contents, but did not give details.
The three countries reached an agreement in late January on the restrictions on exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China that the United States introduced in October last year and requested Japan and the Netherlands to comply with. However, none of the three countries officially announced that they had agreed, and the details are unknown. Manufacturers of manufacturing equipment such as ASML of the Netherlands and Tokyo Electron and Nikon of Japan may be affected.
Mr. Amari said, “The United States has been very strict this time. I don’t think they will be on the same level if they are going to be as strict as they are.” On the one hand, he said, he “thinks it’s going to be about sharing what the US is concerned about.”
The International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Association (SEMI) said on Monday it feared the effect would be inadequate unless allies introduced stricter regulations on par with the United States.
Mr. Amari said, “Where to draw the line between general-purpose products and high-end products is where they bounce off like a boomerang and do not become a threat.”
(Tim Kelly, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Mayu Sakota Editing: Nobuhiro Kubo, Ami Miyazaki)
