Netherlands Objects to Proposed US Law Further Restricting ASML Sales to China

The Dutch government has objected to a proposed US law that would further restrict semiconductor equipment maker ASML from selling to China and servicing customers in the country. The company is the global market leader in the lithographic technology used to laser-print tiny circuits onto microchips.

It has already seen its access to the Chinese market severely hampered by US sanctions. The new proposal would extend those limits to lower-end deep ultraviolet lithography machines. It would ban ASML from shipping the lower-end machines to Chinese buyers and prevent it from servicing existing customers there.

Currently the company is banned from selling its most advanced extreme ultraviolet machines to China. Those restrictions stem from sweeping US export controls designed to slow Beijing’s efforts to catch up with the West in chipmaking.

“Given the possible impact of the Match Act on the Netherlands if adopted in its current form, the Netherlands has communicated its objections, particularly regarding the extraterritorial aspects, to both members of Congress and the US government,” Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma said in written answers to lawmakers published on Tuesday.

The Hague lodged an official objection with Washington as US lawmakers consider the measure. The Dutch government’s intervention highlights tensions between transatlantic allies over the scope of technology controls targeting China. ASML has become a central player in the ongoing restrictions on semiconductor technology flows to China.

The proposed legislation would tighten existing measures that already limit the company’s business in one of the world’s largest chip markets.