Chinese fabs import record volumes of US chipmaking equipment via Singapore and Malaysia
If those negotiations fail, the bill directs Commerce to expand the Foreign Direct Product Rule to cover any foreign-manufactured tool that incorporates U.S.-origin software, technology, or components. In practice, this would function as a near-zero de minimis threshold (meaning that goods would be liable for customs duties and formal entry procedures), since virtually every advanced chipmaking tool in the world relies on some U.S.-origin intellectual property in its EDA software, metrology subsystems, or process control algorithms.
The Netherlands and Japan have so far declined to comment publicly on the bill, but both countries tightened their own export controls in 2023 and 2024 following U.S. pressure. Neither, however, has adopted restrictions as broad as what MATCH proposes.
The FDPR expansion could prove to be a sticking point, which, if enacted, would give the U.S. the ability to block sales of equipment manufactured entirely outside the United States, by non-U.S. companies, to non-U.S. customers, based on embedded U.S. technology. That extraterritorial reach has historically been a point of tension with allied governments, and the explicit statutory deadline could force a confrontation that the executive branch has so far managed to defer through diplomatic channels.
Interestingly, the bill’s sponsors circulated a revised draft on April 16th that removes two provisions that had drawn significant opposition. The country-wide ban on cryogenic etch equipment, dominated by Lam Research and Tokyo Electron, was dropped entirely, while the automatic presumption of denial on licenses to service equipment installed inside Covered Facilities was also softened — however, this revision hasn’t yet appeared on Congress.gov.
That cryogenic etch concession is narrower than it appears, however, given that existing BIS rules already restrict cryogenic etch tools when destined for advanced-node fabs, defined as sub-16/14nm logic, sub-18nm DRAM, and 128-layer-and-above NAND. The DUV immersion lithography restrictions survived in full, as did everything related to Covered Facilities, the 150-day alignment deadline, and the FDPR expansion authority. The five named Chinese firms also remain in the bill without modification.
The biggest change with the MATCH Act is the transfer of authority from the executive branch to Congress, not that Congress’s authority appears to matter to the incumbent administration.
Since October 2022, U.S. semiconductor export controls have been administered entirely through BIS rulemakings under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018. Those rules can be tightened or loosened by any administration without congressional approval, and each new rule requires a fresh assessment of each entity, each subsidiary, each end use.
MATCH would lock the five named firms and the DUV lithography machine ban into statute, meaning any future relaxation would require an act of Congress to implement. For Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA, which booked a combined $19 billion in China revenue in 2025 despite direct U.S.-to-China shipments falling 34%, the bill introduces a layer of permanence that executive-branch rulemaking doesn’t.
ASML, which drew around 30% of its total 2025 revenue from China , faces a different challenge because the servicing restrictions in the original bill threatened the company's maintenance contracts for scanners already operating in Chinese fabs. While the April 16th revision eased that pressure, the FDPR expansion authority could eventually reach tools manufactured at ASML's Veldhoven headquarters if the Netherlands doesn’t adopt matching controls within the 150-day window.
At present, the Bill’s path through Congress remains uncertain; HR 8170 sits in House Foreign Affairs, and the Senate version has been referred to Banking and Foreign Relations. No committee has yet scheduled a markup, and equipment makers that derive 30% or more of their revenue from China are bound to lobby hard against it. But the bipartisan coalition behind the Bill is difficult to dismiss, and current trade tensions between the U.S. and China have narrowed the political runway for opposing new restrictions.
Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist.\u00a0 Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.\u00a0 ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-20/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Luke James Social Links Navigation Contributor Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/congress-moves-to-strip-commerce-of-chip-export-discretion-with-the-match-act#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Save $500 on Lenovo's Legion 5i gaming laptop at only $1,599 — bright OLED display, 32GB of RAM, and powerful RTX 5070 GPU
- Valve VRAM hack may improve gaming on 4GB GPUs — testing showed mixed results in select titles, with FPS almost tripling in certain games
- Cerebras files for IPO — company remains unprofitable despite 20x revenue growth
- Score this epic 1440p Samsung gaming monitor back at its lowest-ever price, now just $159 — limited-time discount nets you this 27-inch IPS display with a fast
- No Need for Space Gear — Capcom’s ‘PRAGMATA’ Joins GeForce NOW on Launch Day
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.