US wants chip exports pinched even more

The US government has been leaning on the Netherlands and other allies to tighten semiconductor export restrictions to China, Bloomberg reports. Among other things, the push aims to prevent ASML from servicing certain equipment in China.

ASML requires a license to service and repair tools installed in China, which the Dutch government has been granting without too many difficulties, according to the report. The US is pushing the Netherlands to be more stringent. Germany is in America’s crosshairs, too. The Biden administration wants Zeiss to cease shipping advanced optical components.

The Netherlands is hoping Germany will subscribe to EU-coordinated export restrictions, for which it has issued a proposal recently. When the US had successfully pressured the Dutch government into export controls, other EU countries declined to follow suit for fear of retaliation from Beijing.