Japan restricts semiconductor equipment exports to China from July 2023.
Context
On March 31, 2023, the Japanese government announced plans to restrict semiconductor manufacturing equipment exports. These initial restrictions, which came into effect from July 23, 2023, impact 23 types across six categories of manufacturing equipment – including etching, lithography, and deposition.
Under these plans, Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturing firms such as Nikon Corp and Tokyo Electron Ltd are required to obtain permission before exporting to those countries not on a list of 42 so-called “friendly” states – with China reportedly amounting it to a “de facto ban”.
Announcing the mechanism in March, Japan’s industry minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, told press that “[w]e don’t have one specific country in mind with these measures” – but the mechanisms were widely thought and reported to be targeting China, and have been reported as resulting from new coordination among semiconductor industry leading states US, the Netherlands, and Japan.
On January 31 2025, the Japanese government announced that it would implement further export control measures on semiconductor and quantum technology related products.
Impact
In 2022, Japan reportedly exported around US$28 billion of semiconductor equipment, with China the largest market, taking over 30% of these exports.
At time of announcement, Japanese industry minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, told press that “[w]e expect the impact on domestic companies to be limited”. In March 2023 a spokesperson for Nikon told press that sales of two of its machines would likely be impacted, though the consequences for its sales performance were unclear and Nikkon would “continue to comply with any rules and work to maximize our results within them”.
Responses
i) Chinese government and industry responses.
When asked about these restrictions in March 2023, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, responded by saying that “[p]oliticising, instrumentalising and weaponising economic and technological issues, and artificially disrupting the stability of global production and supply chains will only harm others and harm themselves”. In April 2023, this dissatisfaction was repeated by the Chinese foreign ministry. And in May 2023, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao explicitly called for this mechanism to end, labelling it a “wrongdoing” that “seriously violated” trade rules. Most recently, in September 2024, reports citing experts have highlighted further warnings from Beijing that it would retaliate strongly against Japan if semiconductor equipment sales to China were further restricted. At the same time, Chinese state media has accused Tokyo of “dancing to the tune of the US”
In January 2025, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce denounced Japan’s new wave of export controls – claiming the measures amounted to a total abuse of export controls aiming to suppress Chinese semiconductor industry.
(ii) Japanese government and industry responses
Japanese firms were reportedly unhappy with these measures because of their lack of domestic markets. In November 2023, the Japanese government announced plans to support its semiconductor industry with around US$13 billion in funding.
(iii) Other states
In March 2024 reports suggested that the US was applying political pressure on Japan (and the Netherlands) to further strengthen its restrictions on exports to China, to include older-generation chips.
Status
The July 2023 round of restrictions is still in place. Although the Japanese government reportedly initially resisted US requests for a further expansion of restrictions, at time of writing (September 2024) it appears that a deal is likely forthcoming that would see a new round of additional restrictions.
Reference list
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