The US-China trade conflict has affected Huawei, the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker. Now, when the relationship between the two biggest economies on the planet tends to soften, the tension between Japan and Korea threatens to negatively affect Apple.

According to Reuters news agency, from July 4, Japan will limit the export of fluorinated polyimide, color barrier and high purity hydrogen (HF). These materials are used to produce screens and smartphone chips.

Japanese companies that want to export this material to Korea must apply for a permit. The process takes about 90 days. Due to Japan ’s 90% HF production, color barrier and 70% of the world’ s etching gas, it will affect Korean manufacturers such as LG and Samsung. Because these two companies offer OLED panels for the iPhone, Apple may have a problem with the screen supply for the iPhone 2019.

Apple recently invested $ 100 million in Japan Display, the company produced LCD screens for iPhone XR and OLED screens for Apple Watch. However, Japan Display is a latecomer in the OLED market and therefore cannot meet Apple’s demand for iPhone in both quantity and quality.

The cause of the decision from Japan was the decision of a Korean court in October 2018. In particular, the court ordered Japanese steel company Nippon to compensate four people for forced labor during World War II. Japan thinks that the problem has been solved since 1965 when diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored.