As he welcomed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to the White House on Tuesday for in-depth discussions, President Joe Biden hailed the Netherlands for increasing its help to Ukraine.
Biden is also trying to persuade the Netherlands to impose export limitations in order to further restrict China's access to cutting-edge semiconductors.
Since the United States Commerce Department unveiled additional export regulations targeted at China in October, the Biden administration has been attempting to align the Netherlands with its goals. The limitations are meant to restrict China's access to powerful computing chips, the creation and upkeep of supercomputers, and the production of advanced semiconductors.
“Together we’re working on how to keep a free and open Indo Pacific, and quite frankly the challenges of China,” Biden said at the start of their meeting.
According to administration officials, the export restrictions are required because China can employ semiconductors to develop advanced military systems, including weapons of mass destruction, violate human rights, and accelerate and more precisely plan and execute its military operations.
To have the greatest impact, however, U.S. export limits must have a lot of assistance from allies in slowing Beijing's access. The Dutch tech company ASML is a significant producer of lithography equipment used in the design and fabrication of semiconductors. One of ASML's largest customers is China.
Soon after the administration unveiled the export control restrictions last fall, CEO Peter Wennink downplayed their significance.
“Based on our initial assessment, the new restrictions do not amend the rules governing lithography equipment shipped by ASML out of the Netherlands and we expect the direct impact on ASML’s overall 2023 shipment plan to be limited,” he said.
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