China stockpiles ASML lithography tools, spurring US calls for complete export ban
Por Howard Liu — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Semiconductors Tech Tech War China stockpiles ASML lithography tools, spurring US calls for complete export ban
DUV tools, though not as advanced as EUV, can be adapted to manufacture 7-nm logic chips and advanced memory for AI processors, report says
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Howard Liu in Beijing Published: 8:00pm, 2 Oct 2026
Chinese semiconductor plants amassed hundreds of immersion lithography machines worth billions of dollars in recent years, according to former US officials, who urged Washington and its allies to shut down further exports.
Chinese-owned fabs had acquired an estimated 343 immersion deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems by early 2026, said a report published in late September by the Centre for Technology & Statecraft (CTS), a Washington research group established in August.
Co-authored by former US export control official Nicholas Brown and Saif Khan, a former White House and commerce department technology policy adviser, the study adds fresh data to the debate in Washington over whether Western allies should impose a total blockade on immersion DUV tools bound for China.
Blocked from buying Dutch toolmaker ASML’s most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools, Chinese chipmakers have leaned heavily on immersion DUV systems – some models of which remain exempt from Western export bans – to produce sophisticated semiconductors. Select Voice Select Speed 0.8x 0.9x 1.0x 1.1x 1.2x 1.5x 1.75x 00:00 00:00 1x AI-generated voice