USA wants to expand export ban for ASML to China

Dhe chip machine manufacturer ASML gets deeper into the global political debate about high technology. The United States also wants to export older ASML machines China and want the government in The Hague to impose a corresponding export ban. This can be deduced from answers given by Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher to a question in Parliament. The relevant documents can be viewed on the website of the Second Chamber, which corresponds to the German Bundestag.

This expands the demands of the Americans. ASML is the main supplier of the machines that semiconductor companies like intel and TSMC need to make chips. So far, ASML has only been prevented from exporting its ultra-modern EUV machines to China. ASML has a technological monopoly on this latest generation – the abbreviation stands for extreme ultraviolet radiation; no one else can deliver the omnibus-sized devices. The company has been waiting for an export license from the domestic government for more than three years – and as things stand, it probably won’t get it again.

In October, the US government then imposed comprehensive export restrictions to China – because of concerns about its increasing power, especially militarily. This raised the question of whether ASML should also stop shipping the slightly less new and more common products there, the so-called DUV machines.

America wants export ban

In addition, an opposition politician recently made a request in the second chamber, namely Laurens Dassen, who heads the two-strong Volt faction. Minister Schreinemacher from Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s right-wing liberal VVD explained that there were “regular talks” about the export of high technology, including with the United States. “In these talks, American initiatives are also discussed, particularly their implications for Dutch companies.”