AMSTERDAM - ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet expects more pressure from the United States to further restrict the sale of advanced chip technology to China. ASML is already not allowed to sell its latest chip machines in China, the largest market for the Veldhoven-based company. Stricter export regulations also apply to most older-generation machines. 

The U.S. has been pressuring the Dutch government for some time to ensure that not all of ASML’s high-quality technology can end up in China. “If you look at the geopolitical landscape, I think it is clear that the United States will continue to put pressure on its allies for more restrictions,” Fouquet said in an interview during the Bloomberg Tech Summit in London. According to the CEO, the question should be: “What is good for the Netherlands? And what is good for Europe.” 

According to Fouquet, a large part of the business that ASML does with China is focused on more mature technologies, which pose less of a threat to national security. “A lot of the focus in China today is on semiconductors for normal everyday use. That’s very different from, say, artificial intelligence.” 

China has been ASML’s largest market over the past five years. In the third quarter, the country accounted for almost 2.8 billion euros in sales, almost half of ASML’s total revenue. According to Fougquet, this was mainly due to the backlog of orders placed during the coronavirus pandemic. ASML expects Chinese sales to shrink to around 20 percent of the total revenue next year, a level the company considers more normal. 

Fouquet also responded to the new government’s plans to restrict labor migration. According to him, European countries like the Netherlands should not restrict labor migration if they want to remain competitive in key industries. “We have built our company with more than a hundred nationalities. Attracting talent from all over the world has been an absolute prerequisite for success, and this must continue,” Fouquet said.