Dutch chip equipment maker ASML’s CEO questions US export rules on China
- CEO Peter Wennink said his company has suffered under US sanctions that keep the Dutch firm from selling its most advanced technology to China
- The Biden administration issued new export rules in October aimed at cutting off China’s ability to manufacture advanced semiconductor chips
The chief executive of ASML Holding, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, on Tuesday questioned whether a US push to get the Netherlands to adopt new rules restricting exports to China make sense.
“Maybe they think we should come across the table, but ASML has already sacrificed,” CEO Peter Wennink said in an interview with newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
He said that following US pressure, the Dutch government has already restricted ASML from exporting its most advanced lithography machines to China since 2019, something he said has benefited US companies selling alternative technology.
He said that while 15 per cent of ASML’s sales are in China, at US chip equipment suppliers “it is 25 or sometimes more than 30 per cent”.
A spokesman for ASML confirmed the remarks in the interview were accurate, but declined further comment.