Kurt Campbell, the White House’s Indo-Pacific coordinator, said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had “very productive” talks last week about China’s export controls for semiconductors.
As part of an effort to slow Beijing’s technological and military advancements, the Biden administration published a comprehensive set of export controls in October, including measures that severely restrict Chinese access to US chipmaking technology.
However, it has not yet persuaded key allies, most notably Japan and the Netherlands, to implement similar equipment restrictions, which it considers necessary for the restrictions to be effective.
Campbell stated at a think-tank event that Biden had discussed the topic with Kishida during their meeting on Friday in Washington. During the meeting, the two leaders praised the long-standing alliance between their countries and expressed concern about Beijing’s potential security threats.
Campbell stated at the Center for Strategic and International Studies event, “I think it would be fair to say that when President Biden raised the issue with Prime Minister Kishida, he indicated that he was studying it carefully and that he would be responding appropriately.”
“And I believe we are satisfied and believe the consultations have been very productive,” the author adds.
At the same event, Koji Tomita, Japan’s Ambassador to the United States, stated that the issue was complicated and necessitated collaboration with industry, but that both Japan and the United States anticipated progress in the coming weeks.
During a visit to the White House on Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte talked with Vice President Joe Biden about how important it is to have safe supply chains. He said that talks with the US about the export restrictions were making progress.
In an interview with Dutch television, Rutte stated, “I think that step by step we will be able to reach a good outcome in cooperation.”
Over the weekend, the Netherlands’ top trade official stated that the country was consulting with European and Asian allies and would not immediately accept the new US restrictions on the export of chip-making technology to China.
