The chief financial officer of Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML has called a bill in the US Congress that would restrict equipment sales to China ‘a bad idea’. Backers, critics and the Dutch government hold differing views.
Reuters reported that ASML CFO Roger Dassen told journalists on October 14, after the company’s third-quarter results, that ASML opposes the MATCH Act under discussion in the US Congress and called it a bad idea. He argued that if the bill passes after the US midterm elections it would speed up China’s development of rival technology, and said he was optimistic that common sense would prevail.
광고 문의 · 300×250According to Dutch outlet IO Plus and others, the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware Act was introduced with bipartisan sponsors in both houses on April 2. It is described as giving the Netherlands, Japan and other equipment suppliers 150 days to match US export curbs on Chinese chipmakers, failing which the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security could extend US jurisdiction to foreign machines containing US technology. Reports say it tightens rules on advanced deep ultraviolet lithography and could end servicing of machines already installed in China; this newspaper has not seen the bill text.
Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House China committee, is reported to argue that the Netherlands and the US share security interests and that Beijing would use such machines to build its own industry. FDD Action, which backs the bill, calls DUV lithography a major chokepoint in China’s AI supply chain. Critics counter that even without servicing, Chinese firms could copy or modify existing tools, so progress might not be halted.
The stakes for ASML are considerable. IO Plus cited estimates that Chinese buyers purchased more than $13 billion of DUV equipment from 2024 to early this year, and that while servicing normally brings in $1 billion to $1.5 billion, up to $9 billion of China sales could be at risk. The Dutch government wants the bill dropped, and observers expect Beijing might respond with measures such as limits on critical raw material exports. Analysts add that until Europe builds its own market for advanced chips, ASML will remain exposed to pressure from both Washington and Beijing.
This is not the first time ASML has faced such pressure: in 2019 the Netherlands, under US pressure, blocked at the last minute the sale of its first extreme ultraviolet machine to China. When the bill might come to a vote, or whether it will be amended, is unconfirmed, and the industry is watching the congressional calendar and the midterm results.
