U.S. eyes broader export curbs on China
New proposals in Washington would expand technology controls aimed at China by curbing semiconductor‑manufacturing equipment and proposing an FCC testing ban, with targets reportedly including immersion DUV lithography tools. Coverage suggests the policy shift focuses less on final chips and more on restricting the manufacturing ladder that supports them. ((digitimes.com)) ((wccftech.com))
Washington is moving to widen its China tech crackdown from finished chips to the machines and labs that help make and certify them. (usnews.com 1) (usnews.com 2) On April 2, Representative Michael Baumgartner introduced the MATCH Act, a bipartisan bill that would tighten export controls on semiconductor-manufacturing equipment sold to China. Reuters reported the draft would target immersion deep ultraviolet lithography tools and block sales or servicing for companies including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Hua Hong, Huawei, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (baumgartner.house.gov) (usnews.com) On April 8, the Federal Communications Commission said it will vote on April 30 on a proposal to bar all Chinese labs from testing electronics for the United States market. The agency said about 75% of electronics are tested in labs in China, and last year’s narrower ban hit 23 labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government. (usnews.com) A chip factory runs on tools before it runs on chips. Lithography machines act like projectors that print circuit patterns onto silicon, and deep ultraviolet systems are older than extreme ultraviolet machines but still crucial for memory chips and many other semiconductors used in phones, laptops and industrial gear. (cnbc.com) (congress.gov) That is where the new push differs from earlier rounds of controls that centered on the most advanced chips and the most advanced manufacturing nodes. The new proposals aim at the manufacturing ladder itself, especially equipment China still imports because domestic substitutes remain limited. (congress.gov) (usnews.com) The immediate foreign company in the crosshairs is ASML of the Netherlands, which dominates immersion deep ultraviolet lithography and competes with Nikon of Japan in that segment. Existing Dutch controls already block ASML’s most advanced extreme ultraviolet tools from China, but Reuters reported the proposed law would also cut off older deep ultraviolet lines that ASML still sells there. (usnews.com) (cnbc.com) China was ASML’s largest market in 2025, accounting for 33% of sales, and ASML said in January that China’s share would fall to about 20% in 2026 even before the latest proposal. ASML declined to comment to Reuters, and the Dutch foreign ministry said export policy is for the Netherlands to decide. (usnews.com) (cnbc.com) The testing-lab proposal reaches a different choke point: devices cannot be sold in the United States until they pass Federal Communications Commission authorization. The commission said it would also vote on a streamlined approval path for devices tested in U.S. labs or labs in countries it does not see as national security risks. (usnews.com) The Federal Communications Commission has been tightening related rules for years. In 2021 it placed Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua on its covered list, and Reuters reported the agency proposed this month to bar imports of previously approved equipment from those firms after stopping approvals of new models in 2022. (usnews.com) Congressional researchers have described semiconductors as a strategic supply chain tied to artificial intelligence, military capability and industrial policy, and U.S. controls on China have expanded since 2018. The next test is whether Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and allied governments move in step, because the latest proposals are built around the idea that tools, servicing and testing can be as important as the chip itself. (congress.gov) (usnews.com)
