ASML just became the center of a US-China chip fight after Washington said it fears a banned EUV lithography tool may have reached China, while ASML says it never shipped one there.
US 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.
EUV uses 13.5nm light to print the smallest chip patterns, which lets foundries pack more transistors into AI processors and phones.
ASML however, denies selling extreme ultraviolet chip tool to China.
For context, ASML is the sole produce of EUV lithography machines, and each one costs roughly $250M today, with newer High-NA EUV versions closer to $ 400M.
And ASML sold of only 48 EUV systems in 2025, and its market share in EUV is effectively 100%. There are 314 EUV machines in operation around the world, 26 that have been decommissioned — and none in China, according to Bloomberg.
Senior US administration officials said that they have evidence of ASML shipping to China specialty equipment used to transport EUV machines, as well as other components that could be used in EUV systems. The proof of those exports is too sensitive to disclose, they said
Reuters had already reported a Shenzhen EUV prototype built with former ASML engineers, but making EUV light is still far from running a factory-grade production tool.
The hard part is repeatable nanometer precision across optics, masks, software, stages, wafers, maintenance, and defect control.
Shares of ASML fell ~2.6% in morning trading after this report .
China’s blocked access to EUV equipment may be Huawei Technologies Co’s biggest chipmaking hurdle, as it tries to rival Nvidia in AI chips. Huawei’s chip head recently highlighted how the company is building chips without ASML’s EUV machines.
If any EUV tool reached China, it would likely rank as 1 of the biggest known breaches of US-led export controls meant to restrict Beijing’s access to military-useful AI.
There are also gaps between what US and non-US companies can sell to certain Chinese customers on Washington’s entity list, which places stricter limits on named firms than on China overall.
For Huawei, the US has basically blocked nearly all technology access and used rules beyond its borders to apply those limits to firms like ASML. But US rules still permit some overseas dealings with other listed Chinese companies, including Huawei partner SwaySure Technology Co, which joined the list in 2024.
Washington does have the power to force ASML to fully cut ties with SwaySure, but President Donald Trump’s team has not used it.
The Netherlands has already placed curbs on ASML selling EUV machines and some advanced immersion deep ultraviolet, or DUV, lithography tools to China. But the Biden administration grew frustrated when ASML increased shipments of gear facing upcoming bans before certain DUV controls were officially enforced.
Now if indeed EUV export-control violation is proven, that would certainly not mean the US “bans ASML,” because ASML is too central to TSMC, Samsung, Intel, Nvidia, Apple, and US chip policy.
The more realistic damage would be Dutch investigations, fines, forced compliance controls, tougher license rules, and pressure to cut ASML’s China service, spare parts, software updates, and DUV sales, which could hurt the roughly 20% of 2026 revenue ASML expects from China.
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reuters .com/world/china/us-tells-asml-it-is-concerned-china-may-have-top-chip-tool-bloomberg-news-2026-06-19/
