The cabinet plan is for a general measure to ensure semiconductors do not end up in high-risk countries, but ASML in particular will be affected by export controls.
ASML was already banned from exporting Advanced Chip Machines (EUV) to China. A permit must now be applied for for older models, which in principle prevents export to China.
“Unwanted strategic addiction”
The new regulations should lead the Netherlands to maintain its ‘technological leadership’, the minister also writes in a letter to Parliament. Furthermore, the cabinet also wants to “prevent Dutch goods from contributing to undesirable end uses, such as military deployment or weapons of mass destruction”. The government also hopes to prevent “unwanted strategic dependency” in the long term.
At the end of January it was already leaked that the Netherlands, the United States and Japan had reached an agreement on the export restriction of chip technology to China. Washington has already limited its export of chip technology to China. Americans have also looked to the Netherlands, because ASML is a global leader in chip machine development.
The export restriction does not take effect immediately. The cabinet hopes to have the legal measures in place by the summer.