Europe Challenges Washington’s Chip Export Strategy

Europe is stepping up its opposition to Washington’s expanding semiconductor restrictions. Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma travelled to Washington this week to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of Congress to express concerns over the proposed MATCH Act, legislation that would prevent Chinese chipmakers from accessing Western semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The measure would have a particularly significant impact on ASML.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, ASML is Europe’s most valuable company and the world’s only manufacturer of the advanced lithography systems required to produce leading-edge AI chips.

“It’s exceptional that I’m coming here to outline our concerns to Congress broadly,” Sjoerdsma told Bloomberg following the meetings. “The stakes for the Netherlands may be very high.”

China currently represents 19% of ASML’s net system sales. The proposed MATCH Act would expand existing export restrictions by extending the limits to ASML’s deep ultraviolet (DUV) immersion lithography systems, in addition to the long-standing prohibition on exporting its most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines to China.

As ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet has explained, the equipment China is currently permitted to purchase consists of older-generation deep ultraviolet systems that were first introduced roughly a decade ago. Those same DUV machines would also become unavailable to Chinese customers if the MATCH Act is enacted.

The legislation, first introduced in April, has not yet been brought before the full House of Representatives or the Senate for a vote. According to Bloomberg, the proposal would likely need to be incorporated into a broader legislative package to secure passage.