In the context of tension between the West and China and the desire of US allies to remove technological dependence on Beijing due to excessive restrictions imposed, Japan and the US made a joint declaration on Friday to develop research and development chips and other things. life in the voice
This agreement was unprecedented and was seen as a successful journey between both parties, which seeks to strengthen the ties between the research and development centers of both nations. To seal this technological cooperation, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce, met. Prior to this meeting, Raimondo met on Thursday in Washington with Wang Wentao, China’s trade minister, where they exchanged views on trade, investment and export policies.
In addition to reducing its exposure to Chinese supply chains, it plans to expand chip manufacturing to ensure access to advanced components that are considered necessary for global economic growth.
In this regard, Japan’s new chipmaker, Rapidus, has been working with IBM on the development of advanced semiconductors and offering support to Micron Technology, a US memory maker, in order to expand production.
And the ties between the two countries are not only focused on semiconductors, but also on other developments such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
The meeting comes after G7 leaders agreed in Hiroshima to reduce their exposure to China and thus curb their economic burden. In fact, the Belgians have also agreed to match US export controls, limiting the sale of machine tools in China.
Integrated circuit market
Between the United States, China, South Korea, Taiwan and the Netherlands quite deep and fragile relations of dependence and competition persist, although without a doubt the country that holds the greatest prominence in the semiconductor industry is Japan. Through his Tokyo Electron company, he managed to increase production and billing considerably.
Its photoresist wafer coating and lithography equipment combined with extreme ultraviolet (UVE) photolithography equipment were produced by ASML and are now only carried by TSMC, Samsung and Intel. As a result, ASML has an effective monopoly on such technology.
At the end of March 2023, Nishimura confirmed the ban on the sale to China of 23 categories of equipment used in the manufacture of advanced semiconductors. The measure, which will take effect next July, consolidates Japan’s competitiveness and ties the country with the US and reconnects with Taiwan, South Korea and Europe. To achieve this, Tokyo will limit the accumulation of strategic technologies acquired by China.
In this context, the G7 summit allowed Japan’s announcement, by its Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, of a formal invitation to Intel and TSMC to invest in the country. At the moment, Micron has already confirmed that it will invest 3.7 billion dollars in the Hiroshima plant to equip it with UVE lithography machines, positioning it as the leading semiconductor facility in the country.
Micron is currently the largest US memory chip maker, competing with SK Hynix and South Korea’s Samsung. Since neither Japan nor any other country can develop its own UVE lithography equipment in a short time, the Japanese government decided to attract foreign investment with a huge value addition.
China’s response has not been slow, and it confirms that it will launch a new economic policy to stop this change in the economy, which will seriously damage it.
