© STR / AFPAn employee makes chips at a factory of Jiejie Semiconductor Company in Nantong, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on March 17, 2021
Although ASML is a world-leading specialist company, its foundational patents are derived from the US, which allows Washington to coerce it into following unilateral export controls as the Americans see fit.
American restrictions have come in several waves, building on the sweeping export controls introduced in 2022. One such update concerning a specific kind of lithography machine came into effect on Monday, January 1, 2024. ASML attempted to rush through the sale of several such machines to China before the deadline but canceled it at the last moment - reportedly due to pressure from the US.
The news caused ASML's US shares to drop. The fundamental goal of US foreign policy here is to try and crush China's semiconductor industry and hobble its high tech ambitions, which has become one of the critical strategies to try and curb China's military and economic rise as a whole.
In doing so, the US has blacklisted Chinese technology firms and has increasingly tried to stave off the exports of semiconductor equipment to China, describing it as a "small yard, high fence" approach. Despite this, there is overwhelming evidence at this stage that such sanctions are not working, not least because China is pursuing a coordinated state and industry effort to forcibly advance itself in semiconductor technology which has seen Huawei, the original US target of sanctions, effectively piece together its very own semiconductor supply chain.
Comment: The comment regarding 'thousands' of casualties is notable, because judging by footage shared by both Israel, and Hamas, as well as the IDF's lack of progress with its ground invasion, there's reason to conclude that Israel is indeed suffering much higher fatalities and casualties than they, obviously, are willing to admit.
Back on the 11th of December the IDF claimed that just 401 Israeli troops had been killed since the 7th of October, and at least 1/5 of those deaths were due to friendly fire.