US demands ASML stop servicing its machines already sold to Chinese customers

The US government is demanding that ASML stop servicing some of the equipment it sells to Chinese customers.

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In a new report from Reuters, the Biden administration wants Netherlands-based ASML -- who makes the top-of-the-line EUV lithography machines, with Intel recently buying one for $380 million to be installed in the United States -- to stop servicing equipment sold to Chinese companies "are a diplomatic and business headache for the Dutch government, but signs are it will continue to align with Washington on export restrictions," reports Reuters.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government doesn't want to make a blanket decision, but it seems that the country will now be slower in approving equipment servicing for Chinese customers, and quicker to deny them. The machines that ASML makes can't be made anywhere else, is virtually impossible to replace, and will eventually break down and need maintenance over time... something that will be much harder moving forward for Chinese companies.

• Read more: Dutch government to spend $2.7 billion on keeping ASML in the Netherlands
• Read more: Dutch government kicks off 'Operation Beethoven' to stop ASML from moving
• Read more: China president: we don't need ASML, 'no force can stop the pace of China'

Reuters also says this could make it much harder for the Dutch government to stop ASML -- the Netherlands' largest company -- from overseas operations. The Dutch government recently started "Operation Beethoven" which includes $2.7 billion on infrastructure and educational projects in the Eindhoven region, where ASML is located in the Netherlands.