The Trump administration is reportedly concerned that a cutting-edge European chipmaking tool may have ended up in Beijing’s hands.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told semiconductor company ASML in a recent meeting that he worried one of their chip-printing machines was sold to China, sources familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg. ASML has never been allowed to ship the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines to China due to export controls enacted during President Donald Trump’s first term.
ASML has denied reports that it shipped any EUV machinery to China, Reuters reported on Friday.
“ASML has never shipped an EUV machine to China nor have we shipped to China any component, module or equipment specially designed to be used in an EUV machine,” the company told Reuters in a statement.
An ASML spokesperson and the Commerce Department each did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“EUV lithography does big things on a tiny scale,” according to ASML’s website. “The technology, which is unique to ASML, prints microchips using light with a wavelength of just 13.5 nm – almost x-ray range.”
The U.S. government has notably aimed to strengthen export controls of advanced semiconductors since 2018 as part of a broader effort to restrict China’s ability to produce advanced chips and other artificial intelligence technology. A December 2025 report by TrendForce projected that China’s high-end AI chip market will expand by more than 60% in 2026.
The House Select Committee on China published an investigation in April which alleges that the country uses “both legal and illegal” methods to produce its own semiconductor production and develop AI technology. China lawfully secures large quantities of advanced AI chips and also “utilizes sophisticated smuggling networks to acquire restricted AI chips,” according to the committee’s report.
There have also been various reports in recent years of the Chinese government attempting to steal the U.S. and other nations’ intellectual property.
Multiple companies are supporting a bill that would mandate advanced U.S. AI chips to include enhanced security features to prevent them from entering foreign countries such as China, NBC News first reported Thursday.
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