Former ASML CEO Peter Wennick believes the US-China trade war over semiconductors could last for decades. Wennick believes the offensive, nicknamed the “chip war,” is purely ideological and has no factual basis.
TrendForce first reported the former ASML boss’s remarks on Dutch radio station BNR. Wennick is something of an expert on the chip war thanks to his time as CEO of ASML, the world’s largest supplier of tools and equipment for chip manufacturing. Wennick, who retired in April this year, was CEO for 10 years, during which time ASML grew to become the third-largest European company by market capitalization.
ASML’s two largest customers are Taiwan and China. ASML supplies TSMC and Samsung with EUV lithography supplies for both major companies’ 7nm and below processes. Although sales of EUV lithography tools to China are banned, the Chinese semiconductor industry remains ASML’s second-largest customer. ASML has been operating there for 30 years. Only a small portion of ASML’s customer base in China is severely affected by increasingly strict U.S. export bans. The latest round of export restrictions in April prevented ASML from servicing high-end products already in use in China.
Wennick claims that as CEO of ASML, he followed a line that primarily benefited his shareholders and management. He did not favor the US or China in their skirmish, but advocated that both sides deal fairly with each other and abide by the law. Wennick highlighted that he had held talks with both Washington and Beijing to relax US export bans and alert China to intellectual property violations. This may have led both governments to suspect him of loyalty to the other side, he says.
Wennick fears the chip war could continue for decades to come due to the geopolitical chaos associated with the profit potential in the semiconductor industry. ASML has disproportionately influenced global discussions around the chip war as its home country, the Netherlands, has become China’s conduit for communication with the West regarding increasingly stringent sanctions.
Tan Jian, China’s ambassador to the Netherlands, told NRC in January: “If the Americans treat us hegemonic, we will of course respond, but our relations with the EU should not be affected by it.” President Xi Jinping then met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to call on the Netherlands to stop following US restrictions on ASML hardware. He said: “The Chinese people also have the right to legitimate development, and no power can stop the pace of China’s scientific and technological development and progress.” How Chinese companies such as SMIC and Huawei will continue to advance their chip processes without access to ASML’s EUV tools remains to be seen.
