Dutch demand Europe-wide implementation of semi equipment export controls

The Dutch government is coordinating potential export restrictions for ASML’s semiconductor equipment with other European countries. “We’re not discussing this with the US only. If we implement export controls, we need other European countries to join in. We’re also in talks with France and Germany,” Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said Sunday in the political interview show Buitenhof.

Dutch export controls would affect the economic interests of other countries, as ASML cultivates an extensive supply network abroad. Schreinemacher likely also wants to prevent suppliers to start selling components to Chinese firms, thus propping up competition in a market that ASML would no longer have access to.

The US is pressuring the Netherlands to extend export controls on EUV scanners to more advanced DUV equipment. Last October, the Biden administration issued unilateral curbs on the export of semiconductor equipment capable of making sub-14nm chips and it wants Japan and the Netherlands to follow suit. According to media reports, both countries were ready to fall in line, although Schreinemacher previously said that the Netherlands “won’t copy the American measures one-to-one.”