The recent electronics-related market is being led around by the inter-country political matters. In the wake of the economic battle between the US and China, the war-time laborer issue between Japan and Korea was brought up.

The US government set out to emphasize the protection of its own intellectual property rights as seen the Huawei restrictions and took measures to ban exporting of semiconductor integrated circuits and electronics parts to China. The export ban is of course applied to the products of Applied Materials and Lam Research of the two major manufacturers.

It was unveiled by a top management of the major equipment manufacturer at the press interview sponsored by SEMI held on June 5 that China gave a notice to Japanese manufacturers not to use American products for any gas supply system inside equipment. They named a major US manufacturer of valve and fitting. Anyway, China must surely be trying to reduce American products.

　On the other hand, the matter of the war-time laborer is sparking repercussions between Korea and Japan over to the semiconductor material. On July 1, the Japanese government announced to reinforce its export restriction to Korea pointing out Fluorinated polyimide, Resists and Hydrogen fluoride (HF or hydrofluoric acid). General new papers expressed the hydrogen fluoride as gas, but anhydrous fluoric acid is used basically as an aqueous solution though it is a gas.

The measure taken at this time has something to do with the Security Export Control (formerly COCOM control) in which customs procedures differ depending on countries and areas concerning the products possibly to cause diversion to military use. In case a country is recognized as a White Country, procedures are simplified. As Korea has been removed from the White Country list, exporting each time of these three items has been subject to the examination and permission since the announcement on July 4.

Hydrogen fluoride is indispensable to clean wafers in the semiconductor producing process. It is so highly corrosive and is feared to be most dangerous of all gases and chemical solutions used in the semiconductor producing process. It is used also for general industrial purposes, but the ultra-high purity grade for semiconductors can be supplied by only Morita Chemical and Stellachemifa. Hydrogen fluoride is used also as a raw material for fluorinated gases like CF4 and NF3. Its crude material is fluorite (calcium fluoride) of which major source is China.

The Japanese government seems to want to exert damages to the semiconductor industries like Samsung Electronics and SK Materials which support the Korean economy. However, should these two companies put off or stop capital investment due to any decreased production or business downturn, there will be quite a serious damage from the Japanese semiconductor machines to the silicon wafers, electronics gases, equipment, resists and chemical solutions.

In the midst of even just the headache from the US-China trade war, the Japan-Korea issue took place. Although the government denies, to take up the electronics business for response with the prewar matters in the steelmaking and heavy industry would be nearly a “By-blow”.

The Korean side is supposed to take a countermeasure, but should they adopt a policy to remove Japanese products, there would be a great deal of influence as Korea is the largest market of Japanese specialty gases and related equipment.