Chinese countermeasures hit ASML supplier hard, prompting EU plea for reconciliation
The EU exemplifies the classic case of “forewarned is forearmed”—only after running headfirst into a wall does it realize the need to turn back.
On the 14th, Bloomberg reported that the EU is engaged in negotiations with China regarding the lifting of sanctions imposed on Sintertech Materials GmbH, a German firm. In exchange, the EU is prepared to lift sanctions against a Chinese company.
The company referenced by Bloomberg—Sintertech Materials GmbH—is a small German enterprise, yet holds strategic significance: it supplies precision coating services critical to semiconductor manufacturing for ASML.
However, the company relies heavily on rare earth materials imported from China. Following its inclusion in China’s list of targeted entities in July, its supply chain was severed. According to Bloomberg, if the sanctions remain in place, Sintertech could face bankruptcy within months.
Thus, the EU now seeks dialogue with China to lift the countermeasures against Sintertech.
What is ironic about this situation is that the crisis facing Sintertech has been entirely self-inflicted by the EU. It was the EU itself that initiated sanctions against Chinese firms under the pretext of supporting Russia.
Yet those EU policymakers and officials who drafted these measures appeared focused solely on applying pressure to China, without fully grasping how deeply European defense and high-tech industries depend on Chinese components and inputs.
Only when China’s retaliatory measures took effect and European companies began suffering economic pain did the EU rush to propose reciprocal de-escalation—a reversal of stance that borders on the absurd.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1879092311171081/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.