Japan’s proposed export curbs damage global supply chain

Japan’s proposed export curbs on corresponding technologies and products will significantly affect the normal trade between Chinese and Japanese companies, undermining the stability of the global supply chain, a spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Monday.

The move by the Japanese side will “harm others without benefiting itself,” the spokesperson said.

The remarks were made in response to the Japanese government’s proposed export controls on four technologies related to semiconductors or quantum computing, Reuters reported.

Recently, some countries have frequently broadened the concept of national security and abused export control measures, artificially dividing the global semiconductor market – this seriously deviates from the principles of free trade and multilateral trade rules, severely impacting the stability of global industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson noted.

For some time now, certain countries have frequently sought to broaden the concept of national security, abusing export control measures to artificially divide the global semiconductor market. Such moves seriously deviated from the principles of free trade and multilateral trade rules, and severely affected the stability of global industrial and supply chains, the MOFCOM said.

The moves by the Japanese government on export controls is clearly a case of mutual coordination with the US in the semiconductor chip field, aimed at implementing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Economic Security Promotion Act, said Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.

Japan’s exports, focusing on high-end areas such as semiconductor materials and equipment, have not been completely cut off to China; instead, they have increased driven by market demand.