Dutch government to ban ASML from servicing installed wafer tools in China

ASML
(Image credit: ASML)

According to Bloomberg, the Netherlands is set to restrict ASML's ability to service its installed advanced wafer fab equipment in China, which could severely disrupt China's chipmaking ambitions. If the information is correct, China's semiconductor champion SMIC may lose the ability to produce chips on its 7nm and 5nm process technologies in the coming year.

The Dutch government plans to let certain licenses expire at the end of the year, specifically those related to ASML's advanced DUV lithography machines. This decision could potentially make some equipment unusable by next year. This decision follows pressure from the United States, which has been encouraging allies to align their export controls with U.S. policies aimed at limiting China's semiconductor advancements.

However, these machines need servicing, and without maintenance and new spare parts, they may become inoperable by 2025, which will severely disrupt SMIC's and Huawei's advanced semiconductor production capability.

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Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.