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The Dutch government has announced broader restrictions on exports of semiconductor-making machines produced by sector heavyweight ASML, aligning itself with US curbs on technology at the center of trade tensions with China.
The measure, which will take effect on Saturday, means ASML will be able to apply for export licenses directly with the Dutch authorities instead of the US government to export the equipment outside the European Union.
The Netherlands had previously not applied restrictions on certain equipment that was under US export controls, forcing the Dutch company to request a license from US authorities.
"I've made this decision for reasons of security," foreign trade minister Reinette Klever said in a statement on the measure.
"We see that technological advances have given rise to increased security risks associated with the export of this specific manufacturing equipment, especially in the current geopolitical context," Klever said, without directly mentioning China.
The new restrictions will apply to "more types of equipment" on top of curbs that have been in force since September 2023, the government said.
ASML said in a statement that the measure "will harmonize the approach for issuing export licenses".
"Since this is a technical change, this announcement is not expected to have any impact on our financial outlook for 2024 or for our longer-term scenarios," the company said.
Shares in ASML were down 1.5 percent in early afternoon trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange.
The Netherlands and Japan have previously joined the United States in imposing certain export restrictions on advanced chip-making equipment aimed at preventing China from acquiring sensitive inputs that could be used in cutting-edge weapons and tech such as AI.
Responding to the latest measures, the Chinese foreign ministry said: "China has always been opposed to this wrong practice of politicizing normal economic and trade relations and abusively linking them to issues of national security."
Lewis Musonye
