US Flags 180-Ton ASML EUV Tool in China as Firm Denies Any Shipment
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jun 19
US Flags 180-Ton ASML EUV Tool in China as Firm Denies Any Shipment
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jun 19
Summary
Howard Lutnick told ASML leaders that Washington fears one of the Dutch company's most advanced chipmaking machines may have reached China in breach of U.S.-led export controls, Bloomberg reported.
ASML rejected the concern, saying it has never shipped an EUV machine—or any component specially designed for one—to China.
EUV systems are made in small numbers and need constant servicing by ASML staff; the machines are about the size of a school bus and weigh 180 tons.
The dispute underscores pressure around China's access to top-end chip tools after Reuters reported in December that Chinese scientists had built a prototype EUV machine with former ASML engineers.
With China mastering older tech and the US eyeing new bans, is ASML trapped between superpowers?
Can Huawei's new chip architecture make US sanctions on advanced EUV machines obsolete?
As US sanctions fuel China's domestic industry, who is winning the global tech war?
US Export Controls and the MATCH Act: How ASML and China Are Shaping the Future of Semiconductor Supply Chains
Overview
The United States has intensified efforts to restrict China’s access to advanced chipmaking technology, introducing new proposals in April 2026 that directly impact Dutch company ASML, which holds a near-monopoly on advanced lithography equipment. These actions, including the proposed MATCH Act, mark a significant escalation by targeting not just high-performance chips but the essential tools needed to make them. As a result, ASML’s shares declined, highlighting the vulnerability of its business with China. If enacted, these measures would directly limit China’s ability to obtain critical machinery, threatening its semiconductor manufacturing capacity and deepening the global technology divide.