U.S. Lawmakers Introduce Bill Curbs on Chip Tools to China

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation late Thursday to impose stricter export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment destined for China, aiming to curb Beijing's access to advanced chipmaking tools and align restrictions among U.S. allies.

The Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware, or MATCH Act, targets immersion deep ultraviolet lithography machines, which are essential for etching microscopic circuits on silicon wafers. These tools, primarily produced by Dutch company ASML and Japanese rival Nikon, remain critical for China, which relies on imports for such technology. The bill would prohibit sales, servicing, and technical support for this equipment to any location in China, extending beyond existing bans on the most advanced extreme ultraviolet machines. It specifically names five major Chinese semiconductor firms—SMIC, Hua Hong, Huawei, CXMT, and YMTC, along with subsidiaries—as primary targets, treating their facilities similarly to entities on the U.S. Entity List.

In the House, the bill is led by Representative Michael Baumgartner, a Republican from Washington, with support from House Select Committee on China Chairman...