Proposed US chip bill threatens 19% of ASML’s system sales

Dutch Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma visited Washington this week to meet with US officials and oppose the MATCH Act. The proposed legislation would bar Chinese chipmakers from accessing Western semiconductor equipment. During his visit, Sjoerdsma met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of Congress to outline the Netherlands’ concerns regarding the bill. The proposed restrictions would hit ASML particularly hard, as the company is a critical player in the semiconductor supply chain. The minister’s visit highlights the growing tension between European trade interests and Washington’s proposed restrictions, marking a significant diplomatic effort to protect the country’s economic interests.

The legislation poses a significant threat to ASML, which is based in the Netherlands. ASML is the sole manufacturer of the sophisticated lithography machines—defined as equipment used to print circuit patterns on silicon wafers—required for AI chips. The MATCH Act would extend export curbs to the company’s deep ultraviolet (DUV) immersion tools, which is a type of lithography technology. Currently, China represents 19% of ASML’s net system sales, making the Chinese market a major economic driver for the company. The proposed bill would go further than existing controls, which already restrict ASML from shipping its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) tools to China. If passed, the MATCH Act would extend these curbs to deep ultraviolet tools. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet spoke to TechCrunch in May, noting that these deep ultraviolet tools are the machines that China can currently buy but would be restricted under the proposed legislation.

Sjoerdsma described his diplomatic push in Washington as an unusual step. “It’s exceptional that I’m coming here to broadly outline our concerns to Congress,” Sjoerdsma, the Dutch Trade Minister, told Bloomberg after the meetings. He emphasized that the stakes for the Netherlands may be very high regarding the potential impact of these new restrictions on the country’s trade.

The MATCH Act, which was introduced in April, has not yet faced a full vote in either the House or the Senate. Bloomberg reported that the bill would likely need to be folded into a larger legislative package to pass. Without being included in a broader package, the bill’s path to becoming law remains uncertain.

Why it matters

The Dutch government is actively lobbying against the US MATCH Act, which threatens to restrict ASML’s ability to sell deep ultraviolet immersion machines to China, a market that accounts for 19% of the company’s net system sales.