Hong Kong – Dutch chip-equipment giant ASML Holding is contending with its biggest challenge yet under the Trump administration: In a series of recent meetings, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick outlined concerns to ASML’s senior leaders that one of its top-of-the-line machines may have made its way into China, in violation of US-led export restrictions.
In the meetings, Lutnick expressed concern to ASML executives over the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, machines, according to people familiar with the talks. EUV systems are used by firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to manufacture processors for the likes of Nvidia and Apple, and ASML has never been allowed to ship them to China because of curbs imposed during the first Trump administration.
ASML has pushed back on Lutnick’s suggestion, explaining that none of these tools – which are the size of a school bus, are manufactured in limited quantities, and require constant upkeep from ASML employees – are in China, said the people. A company spokesperson, asked about the meetings, said that ASML talks with all governments and that it’s never shipped an EUV machine to China.
It’s unclear what exactly the Trump administration seeks from ASML, which is now trying to prove a negative, nor what type of information from the equipment maker could put the China EUV issue to bed. The Commerce Department didn’t respond to multiple queries on the matter, including whether the agency has any evidence indicating that there’s an EUV machine in China.
Persistent concerns from senior levels of the Trump administration add to pressure on Europe’s most valuable company, which has previously fielded allegations by American officials that its business activities undermine US national security and tech policies. Should ASML remain unable to allay Washington’s concerns, the situation could also add strain to already rocky relations between the United States and the European Union.
“ASML regularly engages in transparent and open dialogue with government leaders globally,” a company spokesperson said. “We recognize the national security considerations behind export control regulations in the US and the Netherlands, and we’re fully committed to complying with all applicable regulations.” They added that ASML has previously “refuted several unfounded rumours regarding non-compliance with export controls concerning China which were inaccurate and damaging to our reputation.”
In private, ASML has gone into crisis mode, some of the people with knowledge of the talks said. After the meeting with Lutnick in April, the Dutch firm created and began circulating in Washington a document titled “No indication of any ASML EUV System in China.”
There are 314 EUV machines in operation around the world, 26 that have been decommissioned – and none in China, according to the document, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. The presentation added that ASML can automatically detect “any interruption, abnormal behaviour, or loss of connectivity,” in its EUV portfolio, and that customers “cannot remove, transport and relocate EUV systems without ASML involvement due to specialised handling procedures.”
China’s lack of access to EUV tools is perhaps the single toughest constraint faced by AI chip champion Huawei Technologies, the Asian country’s top rival to Nvidia. Huawei’s semiconductor chief recently touted the company’s innovations in making chips without ASML’s EUV machines in a rare English-language public appearance.
If an EUV system did make it to China, that would be among the biggest known violations of US-led curbs designed to limit Beijing’s access to AI that could benefit its military. Bloomberg asked senior Trump administration officials why, if they have evidence to suggest that this is the case, the US government hasn’t pursued tougher policies or punitive action on that basis. They declined to comment.
ASML has for years faced increasing limits on its business in China, as the US has pushed the Netherlands and Japan to stem flows of chip production equipment to a geopolitical rival. The three countries are home to the leading makers of these tools, and Chinese rivals are making progress but haven’t caught up – particularly in lithography, where ASML is the world leader.
The Hague and Tokyo have generally lagged behind Washington in the timing of their controls, and resisted implementing certain measures – such as banning their engineers from maintaining and repairing gear that’s already in China, which US persons and companies can’t do. US chip tool-makers Lam Research, KLA Corp. and Applied Materials., have said that this discrepancy leaves them at a competitive disadvantage.
There are also differences in the restrictions US and foreign companies face for sales to specific Chinese customers on Washington’s so-called entity list, which imposes tougher controls on individual companies than exist across China writ large.
The US has effectively cut off all technology flows to Huawei, for example, and used extraterritorial authorities to extend those measures to companies including ASML. But the US rules still allow certain types of overseas business with other Chinese firms on the entity list – such as Huawei’s partner SwaySure Technology, which was added to the list in 2024.
The senior Trump officials, who expressed concerns about ASML’s overall business activities, said that ASML has been providing technological support to SwaySure to help build the company’s resilience to US rules. They declined to provide further details. SwaySure didn’t respond to requests for comment.
To be sure, Washington has the tools to compel ASML to stop working with SwaySure entirely — and President Donald Trump’s team hasn’t used them. The US administration has generally struggled to formulate a coherent strategy around semiconductor manufacturing equipment export controls. BLOOMBERG
