The Hague lobbies Washington: MATCH Act could cover all DUV exports to China

The fight over exports of chipmaking equipment is being settled today not in Brussels but in one-to-one talks. Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten confirmed he has spoken repeatedly with president Donald Trump and with members of Congress about the MATCH Act, a bill to coordinate multilateral controls on technology hardware. "I am convinced that in the end an agreement acceptable to all sides can be worked out," Jetten told Bloomberg television in New York on 24 September.

What is at stake: all DUV, not just EUV

The scope of the restrictions is what is at stake. If the planned measures take effect, ASML would lose its entire export of immersion DUV lithography systems to China. That would stretch restrictions from the most advanced EUV machines, which were never cleared for export to China, onto a broader category of equipment. The Netherlands had already placed some advanced DUV systems under restrictions.

ASML is the world's only volume producer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, needed in processes from 5 nanometres down, and one of the most highly valued companies in Europe. The firm relies on specialised suppliers: Zeiss supplies optics of very high purity and Trumpf supplies high-power lasers. Production takes place only in the Netherlands. ASML spends around 1.2 billion euro a quarter on research and development, of which roughly 300 million in the United States.

China as a market that cannot be ignored

For ASML, China remains an important market. As Bloomberg reported, in the second quarter of 2026 China accounted for 14 per cent of net system sales, against 19 per cent in the first quarter. The decline shows the restrictions are working, but it does not zero out the trade. It also explains why The Hague wants a say in the final shape of the rules.

Jetten argues that the Netherlands already runs strict export controls while having to protect its own semiconductor industry, because that is also in Washington's interest. On the other side, Chinese contract manufacturers, among them SMIC and Huawei, are trying to build their own supply chains for alternative solutions, though that is expensive and time-consuming. The dispute over MATCH is therefore also a dispute over the pace at which Chinese industry will have to do without Dutch equipment.

The stakes are concrete. China accounted for 14 per cent of ASML's net system sales in the second quarter of this year, against 19 per cent a quarter earlier. That decline shows how quickly restrictions turn into a financial result. If the MATCH Act also covered immersion DUV, export control would move a generation lower and hit equipment that the Netherlands still allowed to some Chinese customers.

ASML is not an ordinary exporter here. Production stays in the Netherlands, the company spends around 1.2 billion euro on research and development each quarter, of which around 300 million euro in the United States, and EUV machines have never been cleared for sale in China. The Hague is therefore balancing between its alliance with Washington and its own technology base. That is why the prime minister speaks of an agreement "acceptable to all sides" rather than of entering a head-on dispute.