US lawmakers push bill to tighten chip equipment exports to China

US lawmakers unveiled legislation that seeks to crack down on exports of chipmaking tools to China, especially from allies including the Netherlands and Japan, in a bipartisan effort to help Washington further constrain Beijing’s technology ambitions.

The draft bill, introduced in the House, would strengthen existing restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales from firms like ASML Holding NV and Tokyo Electron Ltd. A companion version is expected to be released in the Senate later this month.

The goal is to subject these companies to the same, tougher curbs their American rivals currently face. That includes banning their engineers from maintaining and repairing tools at certain facilities in China, which US persons are already barred from doing — one of most animating issues of export control debates.

The bill would also introduce new controls that affect both foreign and US firms — namely Applied Materials Inc., Lam Research Corp. and KLA Corp.

Tools from these companies, along with ASML and Tokyo Electron, are essential to make everything from Nvidia Corp.’s AI chips to simpler components that go into all types of electronics. For years, the US has worked with Japan and the Netherlands to stop China from getting the best gear, which has been a major chokepoint for the Asian country’s AI chip production.

But China hawks in Washington have long thought the rules could be more effective. The bill — dubbed the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware, or MATCH, Act — aims to “ensure that America and our allies move in lockstep to close these gaps, defend our technological edge, and safeguard the supply chains that power everything from our weapons systems to our critical infrastructure,” Representative Michael Baumgartner, who’s leading the House version, said in a statement.

Senator Pete Ricketts, who’s spearheading the companion bill, added that the legislation would help create a “level playing field for US companies.” NBC News reported earlier on the House measure’s introduction.

Aligning existing measures across American and foreign firms is one matter. Beyond that, the legislation would also broaden the scope of technologies covered, which in some cases would tighten restrictions for US firms, too. Lawmakers largely leave the scope of that expansion to the Trump administration’s discretion — but there are some key chokepoints and companies that would be subject to mandatory control.

Among the most significant would be curbs on all of ASML’s deep ultraviolet immersion lithography, or immersion DUV, machines. That would build on existing controls of the most-advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, machines — which have never been permitted for export to China — as well as some DUV measures imposed by the Netherlands.

The Hague currently requires ASML to seek licenses for its more advanced immersion DUV tools, but not all such products — and only for certain end users rather than all potential buyers in China. That means the legislation would significantly curtail the Dutch company’s access to its largest market.

ASML declined to comment. A Dutch Trade Ministry spokesperson said that “it is not our place to comment on draft legislation proposed by lawmakers from other countries.”

Then there would be even tougher constraints for sales to specific Chinese companies — including memory chip champion ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc. — to essentially stop them from buying any American and allied production gear.

These measures go beyond controls imposed on China writ large. In some cases, Washington has already slapped more aggressive curbs on US companies’ sales to the facilities in question, and the bill would force allies to match. But other provisions would also level up the measures faced by Lam, Applied Materials and KLA, in addition to foreign firms.

Some industry officials worry that expanded controls — even if intended to apply equally across the board — may result in a disproportionate burden for American companies, according to a person familiar with the conversations, who expressed skepticism that allied governments would adequately enforce the measures.

Finally, the MATCH Act calls for similarly comprehensive restrictions targeting the Asian country’s own chip equipment sector, a fast-growing industry Beijing sees as vital for its technological future. Lawmakers didn’t name specific companies. The biggest Chinese tool firms include Naura Technology Group Co. and Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. Bloomberg