China is banned from purchasing ASML's lithography machines by the United States, and the Netherlands is fiercely protesting Washington's move as foolish—should this truly happen, it would be a total disaster!

The Netherlands is once again clashing with the United States. On the issue of ASML’s sales of lithography machines to China, the Dutch are going all out. In early April 2026, the U.S. Congress introduced the Multi-lateral Coordination on Hardware Technology Control Act (MATCH Act), aiming to completely block ASML’s business operations in China. This has now pushed the Netherlands to act—directly slamming the table at the White House, protesting U.S. interference in Dutch sovereignty.

The MATCH Act, proposed by bipartisan lawmakers in early April 2026, targets not only ASML but also Japan’s Tokyo Electron. Its core provisions include: banning ASML from exporting immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines to Chinese buyers, expanding restrictions originally limited to EUV systems to cover all immersion DUV equipment; even more severely, future maintenance, spare parts supply, and software updates for devices already sold to China could be abruptly cut off.

The impact on after-sales service is no small matter. Lithography machines are not ordinary equipment—they consist of millions of components and operate under extremely stringent environmental conditions. Without regular maintenance by original factory engineers, these machines could fail completely within one or two years, turning an investment of hundreds of millions of euros into nothing more than expensive scrap metal.

The Dutch response came swiftly and firmly. The Netherlands has formally lodged objections with the U.S. government. In a written reply released on May 12, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sigrid Kaag, explicitly stated: “The Dutch cabinet opposes the extraterritorial jurisdiction inherent in this U.S. proposal. Each country has the responsibility to establish and implement its own export control regulations.”

She warned that such broad restrictions could severely damage the revenue and market position of semiconductor companies—including Dutch firms—and undermine the predictability of trade and investment environments. Kaag also revealed that during last month’s royal visit to the U.S., the Dutch Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and representatives from the trade sector had personally conveyed this stance to U.S. officials—but so far, the U.S. Congress has not responded.

What worries the Netherlands most isn’t just being unable to sell lithography machines to China, but rather the risk of forcing China to develop its own lithography technology, then flooding global markets with cheap alternatives. This scenario has already been vividly demonstrated by NVIDIA. Fearing ASML might suffer the same fate, the Dutch have begun blaming the White House for sheer stupidity.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865853734844428/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.