The Dutch government on Tuesday said that ASML Holding NV needs a license to provide spare parts and software updates for computer chipmaking equipment it previously sold to Chinese customers that now fall under export restrictions.
That includes the two additional tools that the Dutch government added to its national control list on Friday last week in a move to coordinate policy with the US, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The clarification follows confusion over whether the Dutch government is planning additional servicing restrictions on ASML, Europe’s largest technology firm, which the ministry indicated is not the case.
Photo: Reuters
“Servicing ... is vetted under the licensing requirement (and includes) ... parts, software and technology developed specially for this equipment,” the ministry said.
“As of Sept. 6, 2024 this licensing obligation is expanded” to include ASML’s 1980di and 1970di machines, it added.
ASML, which on Friday said it did not expect the change to impact on its earnings, declined to comment.
The company dominates the market for deep ultraviolet (DUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools, essential to chipmakers for creating the circuitry of chips.
After an initial round of Dutch restrictions last year, the company instructed its customers in China — its third-largest market after Taiwan and South Korea — not to expect licenses to import its most advanced DUV tools after Jan. 1.
ASML has never been able to sell its EUV machines to China amid pressure from the US government.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet at an event in New York on Wednesday last week said that he expects the US government to continue pushing for additional restrictions on the company’s exports to China.
“That is a bipartisan issue, so I think whatever happens in November this will stay,” he said, referring to the US presidential election.
He added that he expects pushback from the Dutch government against additional US restrictions, which he said are increasingly motivated by economic rather than security considerations.
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