The United States may relax sanctions on China on semiconductor equipment

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. government is considering new sanctions on China's semiconductor industry, which may be more lenient than the original proposal. The news pushed up the share prices of several global semiconductor equipment companies, particularly companies such as Netherlands 'ASML (ASML) and Japan's Tokyo Electron.

ASML and others rise sharply

In Europe, ASML shares rose about 2.9% in early trading, while in Japan, Tokyo Electronics shares surged more than 6%. The rebound in these stock prices is related to the possible easing of U.S. sanctions on China, especially sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips.

The United States adjusts its sanctions plan on China's semiconductor industry

The report pointed out that the new sanctions being considered by the United States will mainly target China's semiconductor equipment suppliers rather than directly restrict chip manufacturing plants. For example, Changxin Memory Technologies will not be included in the U.S. export blacklist. This is a big plus for ASML, because the company had expected revenue from China to fall by 30% in the coming year. However, if companies such as Changxin are excluded, ASML's revenue in the China market may decline less than expected.

Market reaction and future outlook

The report pointed out that these new sanctions may focus on China's semiconductor manufacturing equipment companies rather than actual chip manufacturing plants, which is undoubtedly good news for international semiconductor equipment suppliers such as ASML. In addition, because the governments of Japan and the Netherlands have not yet fully joined the stricter sanctions on China, this also puts U.S. local semiconductor equipment companies at a competitive disadvantage, which may affect their market performance.