Asia Tech Wire (Sep 6) -- The Dutch government announced on Friday the expansion of export control measures for advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

This means that from September 7, more types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment will be subject to national authorization requirements.

The measures stipulate that from now on companies will have to apply for an authorization when exporting such advanced manufacturing equipment, and that the government will evaluate the applications on a case-by-case basis.

This is therefore not an export ban and the measures apply to exports from the Netherlands to destinations outside the EU.

Regarding the measures, Dutch chip equipment maker ASML responded that under the updated licensing requirements, the company will need to apply for export licenses for its TWINSCAN NXT:1970i and 1980i DUV immersion lithography machines from the Dutch government rather than the U.S. government.

"The Dutch export license requirement is already in place for the TWINSCAN NXT:2000i and subsequent DUV immersion systems. Sales of ASML's EUV systems are also subject to license requirements," said the company.

ASML stated that as this is a technical change, it is not due to have any impact on the company's financial outlook for 2024 or its long-term scenarios.

Christophe Fouquet, ASML's chief executive, told a Citi conference in New York on Wednesday that the U.S.-led restrictions on the company's exports to China has become more "economically motivated" over time.

He expects the company's countermeasures against the export restrictions to increase.