Europe Challenges US Bill Restricting Chinese Access to Semiconductor Equipment

This week, Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma held discussions in Washington with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of Congress to voice opposition to the MATCH Act. The legislation aims to prevent Chinese chipmakers from obtaining Western semiconductor equipment, a move that would particularly affect ASML, the Netherlands-based company.

ASML stands as Europe’s most valuable firm and is the sole global producer of advanced lithography machines essential for manufacturing state-of-the-art AI chips. Sjoerdsma remarked to Bloomberg that it is unusual for him to present broad concerns directly to Congress, emphasizing the high stakes involved for the Netherlands.

Currently, China represents 19% of ASML’s net system sales. The MATCH Act proposes to intensify existing export restrictions by including ASML’s deep ultraviolet immersion lithography machines, in addition to the already enforced ban on its most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment being sold to China.

ASML’s CEO, Christophe Fouquet, explained to TechCrunch in May that China is presently able to purchase older-generation deep ultraviolet tools, which were first shipped approximately ten years ago. The MATCH Act would prohibit access to these machines as well.

Introduced in April, the bill has yet to undergo a full vote in either the House or Senate. Bloomberg reports that for the legislation to pass, it would likely need to be incorporated into a broader legislative package.