Exclusive
US-South Korea Alliance Faces a Test beyond Political Rhetoric US-South Korea Alliance Faces a Test beyond Political Rhetoric RECAP: Asia Sentinel Stories for August 2026 RECAP: Asia Sentinel Stories for August 2026 Taiwan’s Habit of Releasing Soldiers’ Full Names Seems Risky Taiwan’s Habit of Releasing Soldiers’ Full Names Seems Risky
Current Affairs

Netherlands protests US proposal to further bar chip giant ASML from China market

The Dutch government has objected to a proposed US law that would further restrict semiconductor equipment giant ASML from selling to China and servicing customers…

By Samantha Johnson / May 13, 2026
The Dutch government has objected to a proposed US law that would further restrict semiconductor equipment giant ASML from selling to China and servicing customers in the country.
The Dutch company, the global market leader in the lithographic technology used to laser-print tiny circuits onto microchips, has seen its access to the Chinese market severely hampered by US sanctions.
Now, as US lawmakers look to further choke the European outfit off from the Chinese market, The Hague has lodged an official objection with Washington.

Advertisement

“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 Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (Match) Act, introduced into the US Congress by a bipartisan group of lawmakers last month, would ban ASML from shipping lower-end deep ultraviolet lithography machines to Chinese buyers, and also prevent it from servicing existing customers there.

Advertisement

Currently, the company is banned from selling its most advanced extreme ultraviolet machines to China, as a result of sweeping US export controls designed to hobble Beijing’s efforts to catch up with the West in chipmaking.

Don't Miss: