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ASML can sell if they want, but indeed the US has a lot of ways to make that unattractive. Case in point, the US has recently started pressuring the Dutch Gover
by hectormalot 6y ago
ASML can sell if they want, but indeed the US has a lot of ways to make that unattractive. Case in point, the US has recently started pressuring the Dutch Government to prevent sales by ASML to China. I think the current stance is that they (Gov + ASML) are still considering how to proceed.
An interesting aspect though: I think the technological superiority of ASML is a big asset in these discussions. e.g. If the US would follow up on a threat of sanctions against ASML (e.g. banning US companies from working with ASML) it would hit the US semiconductor industry quite hard (particularly Intel), while non-US players (e.g. TSMC) could continue producing with euv.
In effect, they would have to go much further to keep some similarity of a level playing field: e.g banning all products containing chips produced on ASML machines. That would hit a lot more companies, many of them US based too. Creating even more reasons for the US Gov to not to take such drastic steps.
Therefore I expect that it is much more likely they'll use pressure on the EU / NL government systems to force the behaviour they want, compared to economic sanctions vs ASML.
> ASML is integrated into the dollar-based global financial system, so it will have to respect American financial sanctions
I'm no expert, but if a company wants to pay ASML in Euros, I'm pretty sure they can accept euros. The dollar is convenient, not a requirement.
- selimthegrim 6y agoDutch intelligence is skilled and highly respected by Five Eyes countries - I don’t think the US is going to steamroll them
- _jal 6y ago> if a company wants to pay ASML in Euros, I'm pretty sure they can accept euros. The implication is not about accepting payment. The western banking system can and has blackballed firms that took money from people the US didn't like.
- flyinglizard 6y agoThere's no reason to believe Dutch government and US government are on different sides here. No one from the West wants to wake up one day to find they've been assigned a place in China's system.
- kube-system 6y ago> I'm no expert, but if a company wants to pay ASML in Euros, I'm pretty sure they can accept euros. The dollar is convenient, not a requirement. Companies rarely exchange money directly, though. They usually have a bank do it on their behalf, and those banks are subject to the laws of the countries they operate in.
- xxpor 6y agoAnd it's harder to avoid dollars than it might appear. How does one convert between TWD and EUR? Via USD. You also have to avoid SWIFT, since the US controls that too. The Europeans just set this up to avoid these issues with Iran: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_in_Support_of_Trade_Exchanges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_in_Support_of_Trade... It took nearly a year and a half between the founding and the first payment.
- csharptwdec19 6y agoASML is at best ambivalent. On one hand, they brag about how a company in China took apart an ASML machine, and replicated every component, but it didn't work. But I'm sure ASML knows that they'll try again. They have at least a limited interest in keeping their technology from being stolen.
- whatarethembits 6y agoThis is why as a European I low key wish that the right wing trend of the US continues (Trump gets another term etc) because the isolationist policies that come from it will be a net benefit to us in the long run. The reduction in US's soft power due to some region's reliance on US money will open up other global players to take their place and break the current chokehold. More competition and options in that vein will be a net benefit overall. I'm not saying it won't be painful in the short term but it'll be worth it. As a moon shot it might even mellow China out a bit if it is further tied to maintaining good relationships with the rest of the world