President Joe Biden said the US and Netherlands were working in “lockstep” over their approach to China and would discuss ways to secure global supply chains during a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the White House.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said the US and Netherlands were working in “lockstep” over their approach to China and would discuss ways to secure global supply chains during a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the White House.
“Together we’re working on how to keep a free and open Indo-Pacific. And quite frankly, meet the challenges of China,” Biden said Tuesday during the meeting.
“Simply put, our countries have been so far just lockstep in what we’ve done in our vision for the future,” he added, downplaying tensions over efforts to persuade The Hague to limit exports of the most advanced chipmaking equipment and semiconductor technology to China.
The Netherlands and Japan have agreed in principle to join the US in tightening such controls, though they likely won’t go as far as the sweeping rules the White House announced in October, Bloomberg News reported last month. The US has said the measures are aimed at preventing Beijing’s military from obtaining advanced semiconductors.
The trip will not result in an announcement of any agreement, people familiar with the matter said.
US officials have also stressed that all countries make sovereign decisions and that any potential changes to the Netherlands’s export regime would not occur due to pressure from the Biden administration.
Read more: Japan Said to Join US Effort to Tighten China Chip Exports
Biden and Rutte also discussed their continued support for Ukraine, as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches next month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with countries to supply him with more heavy duty tanks and air defense capabilities.
“Russia is just continuing to act in ways that are almost unbelievable. The brutality,” said Biden.
The Netherlands is considering sending Ukraine a Patriot system to bolster its air defenses and will make a final decision soon, Bloomberg reported. Rutte said Tuesday said the Netherlands would provide more funding for Kyiv.
“We have decided to spend another two and a half billion in this helping Ukraine,” said Rutte.
The Dutch leader is set to meet lawmakers later on Tuesday.
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