European officials are resisting U.S. efforts to restrict Chinese access to advanced chipmaking equipment, which could significantly impact ASML's sales. Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of Congress to oppose the MATCH Act, a bill that would bar Chinese chipmakers from accessing Western semiconductor equipment. The legislation would particularly affect ASML, Europe’s most valuable company, which is the sole producer of sophisticated lithography machines used to create cutting-edge AI chips.
The MATCH Act would extend existing controls by imposing additional restrictions on ASML’s deep ultraviolet immersion machines, beyond the long-standing ban on its most advanced extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, tools reaching China. China currently accounts for 19% of ASML’s net system sales, and the bill, introduced in April, has not yet faced a full House or Senate vote. Bloomberg notes that the legislation would likely need to be folded into a larger package to pass.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet told TechCrunch in May that China can currently purchase older-generation deep ultraviolet tools, gear first shipped about a decade ago, which the MATCH Act would now relegate off limits. The meeting between Sjoerdsma and U.S. officials highlights the growing tension between European interests and U.S. policies on semiconductor exports.
Source: techcrunch
