Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has raised concerns directly with senior leaders at ASML Holding NV (AMS: ASML) that one of the company’s most advanced machines may have entered China in violation of US-led export restrictions, Bloomberg reported.
In a series of recent meetings, Lutnick told ASML executives that he was concerned about the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, machines, according to people familiar with the private conversations.
EUV systems are used by firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to manufacture processors for customers including Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc.
ASML has never been permitted to ship EUV machines to China, following curbs first imposed during the first Trump administration.
ASML has pushed back firmly against Lutnick’s suggestion, explaining that none of its EUV tools are currently located in China, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The company noted that EUV machines are the size of a school bus, manufactured in limited quantities, and require constant upkeep from ASML personnel, making undetected relocation effectively impossible.
A company spokesperson confirmed that ASML engages with all governments and stated plainly that it has never shipped an EUV machine to China.
Despite ASML’s denials, multiple senior administration officials told Bloomberg they have evidence suggesting the company is not acting in good faith, including alleged exports to China of gear specifically related to EUV tools.
Those officials declined multiple requests for proof of the shipments, citing the sensitivity of the information and sources, and did not confirm whether they have seen evidence of an actual EUV system inside China.
ASML entered crisis mode following the April meeting with Lutnick, creating and circulating in Washington a document titled “No indication of any ASML EUV System in China,” which Bloomberg reviewed.
According to that document, there are 314 EUV machines in operation around the world and 26 that have been decommissioned, with none located in China.
The presentation stated that ASML can automatically detect “any interruption, abnormal behavior, or loss of connectivity” in its EUV portfolio, and that customers “cannot remove, transport and relocate EUV systems without ASML involvement due to specialized handling procedures.”
Shares of ASML fell as much as 2.7% in Amsterdam following the initial report, though the stock has advanced approximately 78% so far this year.
“ASML regularly engages in transparent and open dialogue with government leaders globally,” a company spokesperson said, adding that the firm is “fully committed to complying with all applicable regulations.”
The spokesperson also stated that ASML has previously “refuted several unfounded rumors regarding non-compliance with export controls concerning China which were inaccurate and damaging to our reputation.”
Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma told reporters in The Hague that customs authorities have the power to investigate such matters, but confirmed the government has not instigated any action over the US allegations.
“The system is incredibly robust and the export rules as they currently stand are extremely strict, perhaps the strictest in the entire world,” Sjoerdsma said.
China’s lack of access to EUV tools remains one of the toughest constraints facing Huawei Technologies Co., the country’s leading AI chip developer and primary domestic rival to Nvidia.
Senior Trump administration officials also expressed broader concern that ASML has been prioritizing short-term profits over national security considerations, pointing to earlier legal DUV shipments that accelerated before certain controls took effect.
A bipartisan bill that cleared a key congressional committee in April seeks to subject ASML and Japan’s Tokyo Electron Ltd. to the same level of export restrictions in China as US firms, which could severely limit ASML’s access to a market it expects to account for roughly 20% of its 2026 revenue.
