Netherlands to join US-led Pax Silica AI initiative despite ASML dispute

By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM, June 23 (Reuters) – The Netherlands will join the Pax Silica group of U.S.-allied countries coordinating AI supply chains, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, despite disputes over China-bound exports by Dutch chip equipment maker ASML.

Dutch participation in Pax Silica is an important win for one of the pillars of U.S. tech diplomacy.

The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma to lobby against the proposed U.S. Match Act, which would force allies to align with Washington’s export controls on China.

While the U.S. and Netherlands have agreed to restrict ASML from sending to China the advanced tools needed to make circuitry for AI chips, the countries disagree on whether ASML should be allowed to sell and service some less-advanced equipment to Chinese customers.

Sjoerdsma and Jacob Helberg, the U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs who heads the Pax Silica initiative, are expected to hail it as promoting trade and economic security, with the European Union expected to join at a future date.

Other governments to have joined Pax Silica include South Korea and Japan. Taiwan, home of chipmaker TSMC, has endorsed the group as a non-signatory.  

(Reporting by Toby SterlingEditing by Mark Potter and David Goodman)