Dutch Minister Opposes US MATCH Act Targeting Chinese Chipmakers
Quick Look
- Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma visited Washington to oppose the US MATCH Act, which aims to restrict Chinese chipmakers' access to Western semiconductor equipment.
- The bill would significantly impact ASML, Europe's most valuable company and a key supplier of lithography machines, by extending existing export curbs.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The MATCH Act, introduced in April, seeks to expand existing US export controls on semiconductor equipment to China, specifically impacting ASML's deep ultraviolet immersion machines.
Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma visited Washington this week to meet with 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, and one that would hit ASML especially hard.
ASML, based in the Netherlands, is Europe’s most valuable company and the only maker in the world of the sophisticated lithography machines that are used to make cutting-edge AI chips.
“It’s exceptional that I’m coming here to broadly outline our concerns to Congress,” Sjoerdsma told Bloomberg after the meetings. “The stakes for the Netherlands may be very high.”
China accounts for 19% of ASML’s net system sales. The MATCH Act would go further than existing controls, extending curbs to ASML’s deep ultraviolet immersion machines on top of the long-standing ban on its most advanced extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, tools reaching China.
As ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet told TechCrunch in May, what China can currently buy are older-generation deep ultraviolet tools — gear first shipped about a decade ago — the same machines the MATCH Act would now relegate as off-limits.
The bill, introduced in April, hasn’t yet faced a full House or Senate vote; Bloomberg notes it would likely need to be folded into a larger package to pass.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The MATCH Act will likely need to be folded into a larger legislative package to pass.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Will the MATCH Act pass Congress?
- How will China react to potential new restrictions?
- What will be the full financial impact on ASML?
