Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten is directly lobbying U.S. President Donald Trump in a bid to stop Washington from further tightening export restrictions on chip equipment maker ASML.

According to a September 24 report by Bloomberg, Jetten said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York that day that he had discussed the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act multiple times with Trump as well as U.S. lawmakers, stressing the importance of protecting the semiconductor industry. "I am very confident that we will ultimately be able to reach an agreement that works for all parties," Jetten said.

The core of the dispute is whether the United States will further expand restrictions on China's access to advanced chipmaking equipment. The MATCH Act currently being pushed by the U.S. Congress could further restrict U.S. allies from exporting advanced chipmaking equipment to China.

According to reports, if the relevant measures are implemented, all of ASML's immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machine sales to China would be affected. This means U.S. restrictions on chip equipment exports to China could further extend from the most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines to more DUV equipment.

ASML is the only company in the world capable of producing EUV lithography machines and is one of Europe's most valuable companies. Its EUV equipment has never been approved for export to China, and the Dutch government has previously imposed export restrictions on some advanced DUV equipment.

Jetten believes that the Netherlands has already imposed strict export controls on ASML, and that while continuing to protect sensitive technologies, it also needs to consider the interests of its own semiconductor industry. He said protecting the Dutch chip industry "is not only in our interest, but also in the interest of the United States and the broader interest," while stressing that relevant restrictions need to remain balanced.

For ASML, China remains an important market. According to data disclosed by Bloomberg, in the second quarter of this year, China accounted for 14% of ASML's net system sales, down from 19% in the first quarter. Therefore, the negotiations surrounding the MATCH Act are not just a discussion between the U.S. and the Netherlands about the scope of export controls, but also directly relate to which equipment ASML can sell in the Chinese market.

On Russia and Ukraine, Jetten says more sanctions on Russia are needed

In the interview, Jetten also touched on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and said he regretted that the European Union this week removed two Russian billionaires from its sanctions list. "I believe we need to impose more sanctions on the Russian Federation to force them to negotiate," Jetten said. He also called on other countries to increase financial, military and non-military support for Ukraine.

The EU this week reached a compromise on sanctions against Russian individuals and entities: removing Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list while extending sanctions on the remaining roughly 3,000 individuals and entities for three years.

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, Luxembourg pushed to lift sanctions on Fridman in connection with a legal claim he filed against Luxembourg at the Permanent Court of Arbitration; France pushed to remove Usmanov from the sanctions list, involving an arrangement related to the release of personnel linked to Azerbaijan.

According to a previous Reuters report, Fridman's arbitration claim against Luxembourg amounted to about $16 billion; France's push to lift sanctions on Usmanov involved a diplomatic dispute between France and Azerbaijan over a detained French citizen. However, Azerbaijan has denied the relevant claims.

From ASML export restrictions to sanctions on Russia, Jetten's remarks all point to two diplomatic coordination challenges currently facing the Dutch government: on one hand, it hopes the United States will not further tighten export restrictions on China that could affect its core domestic technology companies; on the other hand, it advocates that Europe continue to maintain or even strengthen sanctions pressure on Russia.