Micron urges US Congress to restrict chip tool sales to Chinese competitors

• The House Foreign Affairs Committee is voting on the MATCH Act, which would restrict DUV immersion machines (dominated by Netherlands-based ASML) and require licenses for foreign companies to service equipment at Chinese facilities
• Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra held closed-door roundtables with House Foreign Affairs and Senate Banking Committee members to advocate for stronger restrictions against fast-growing Chinese competitors
• Korean chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix currently dominate the memory market with Micron as No. 3, while Chinese firms YMTC and CXMT continue growing rapidly despite existing U.S. Commerce Department export curbs imposed since 2022

Summary

Key Development: Micron Technology, the largest U.S. memory chipmaker, is actively lobbying Congress to pass the MATCH Act, legislation aimed at tightening export restrictions on chipmaking equipment sold to Chinese competitors. The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill on April 22.

Main Players:

• Micron Technology (No. 3 global memory chipmaker, sole major U.S. supplier)
• Chinese competitors: ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC)
• Equipment makers: ASML (Netherlands), Lam Research, Applied Materials, KLA, and Tokyo Electron
• Market leaders: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dominate the memory market

Legislative Details: The MATCH Act would close gaps in current export controls by:

• Restricting DUV immersion machines (dominated by ASML) from entering China nationwide
• Requiring licenses for foreign companies to service equipment at covered Chinese facilities
• Pressuring foreign toolmakers to align with U.S. export restrictions

Lobbying Efforts: Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra held closed-door roundtables with the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Banking Committee Republicans approximately one month ago. The company argues that stronger controls are necessary to prevent China from dominating memory chip manufacturing as it has in solar energy.

Context: YMTC has been on a restricted trade list since 2022, and CXMT's advanced facilities face existing U.S. export curbs, yet both companies continue growing rapidly. The MATCH Act is part of the largest legislative push on export controls since the 2018 Export Control Reform Act. If passed by committee, the bill would still need Senate approval and could be incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act.