Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

Washington's ill-intentioned chip war has raised concerns about the further fragmentation of global supply chains, and more economies, including the EU, may become the victims. As global electric vehicle (EV) and chip industry chain cooperation presents opportunities for China-EU cooperation, the EU should maintain strategic autonomy as the US pursues its chip war.

Christophe Fouquet, the president and CEO of the Netherlands' chipmaking equipment giant ASML, issued a warning over an escalation of the chip war, saying it will cause serious consequences for Europe, as chip production capacity in the continent cannot meet even half of its own needs.

The ASML CEO believes that further restrictions on exports to China make no sense, and that the West is harming itself. Chips that are urgently needed in the West are being produced in China, Fouquet said, according to German media outlet Handelsblatt. 

As the restructuring of the global auto industrial chains seems to have accelerated, expectations are on the rise as to how EU countries can seize the opportunity to revitalize its auto industries. This is the time to test the EU's political wisdom and diplomatic autonomy.

The EU needs to act according to the trend of our time, firmly advance free trade, resolutely reject protectionism, and actively expand mutual beneficial cooperation on auto supply chains. We hope ASML's exports to China, especially its exports of ordinary chip-production equipment, can be less affected by political factors. This will help the EU build a sound ecosystem for the development of auto supply chains, and help it seize opportunities brought by a boom in EV investment.

The US' strategy in the chip war against China has been very clear, which is to rally allies to stifle the development of China's chip industry. However, the US' attempts have backfired. 

The export restrictions and other policies imposed by the US have disrupted the global semiconductor industry chain, and have ended up sacrificing the interests of its allies' semiconductor companies. The comprehensive squeeze brought by the US chip war has instead driven China's chip industry to make breakthroughs, especially in mature chip manufacturing, bringing about certain advantages. 

With Chinese mainland's total integrated circuit (IC) output surging 40 percent year-on-year to 98.1 billion units in the first quarter, foreign companies that sell chips to China are increasingly being replaced by local peers. When UBS had a popular EV made by BYD taken apart, it showed that 36 percent of the semiconductor content in the powertrain came from domestic suppliers, The Wall Street Journal reported in January.

The destructive impact of the US chip war has become increasingly apparent, tearing apart the global chip industry chain and disrupting its development cycle.

Moreover, as China's chip manufacturing has made hard-won advantages in capacity and prices, Washington may have entered the second half of its ill-intentioned chip war, shifting from restricting exports of semiconductor technologies and chipmaking equipment in order to crush China to pushing its allies to combat China's chip exports.

There are signs that Washington is advising the EU "to assess the risks of relying on Chinese-made chips." Washington is concerned that growing Chinese investment in the field will help Chinese chip companies dominate supply chains much as they have in solar and steel, Bloomberg reported in March.

In order to deal with the US' deliberate disruption of the international chip industry chain, European countries should be cautious in dealing with US lobbying and coercion. Politicians in the EU need to heed the warning of ASML's CEO, and not let the EU's chip and EV industries, which could further boost mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese companies, fall victim to the US' selfish geopolitical games.

As signs of disruption in the US chip industry and other sectors due to the ongoing chip war become more evident, it is crucial for Washington to acknowledge the negative consequences of its actions and shift away from zero-sum thinking. By doing so, the US can prevent further harm to its industries and the global chip, EV, and new-energy product supply chains.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn