China warns US chip export legislation would severely disrupt global semiconductor supply chains

China’s Ministry of Commerce warned that US legislation advancing through Congress would “severely disrupt the international economic and trade order and seriously undermine the stability of the global semiconductor industry chain and supply chain.” The statement responded to the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s April 22 markup of more than 20 export control bills, the largest on semiconductor export controls in congressional history. The centrepiece is the MATCH Act, the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware, introduced by Representative Michael Baumgartner on April 2 with bipartisan support in both chambers. The bill would require the Netherlands and Japan to align their chip equipment export restrictions with American rules within 150 days or face unilateral US enforcement, including an expanded Foreign Direct Product Rule. If enacted, the legislation would cut off China’s access to DUV immersion lithography machines that ASML still sells there and ban the servicing of machines already installed. The committee also advanced the Chip Security Act, which would require advanced chips to include location verification mechanisms before export. The Semiconductor Industry Association opposes this provision, warning of “untested and potentially infeasible on-chip mechanisms.” The ECRA Penalty Increase Act would quadruple civil penalties for export violations from $300,000 to $1.2 million per violation, while the ECRA Statute of Limitations Extension Act would double the prosecution window from five to ten years. China has already enacted extensive countermeasures. On April 7, 2026, the State Council published Order No. 834, the “Regulations on Industrial and Supply Chain Security,” creating a unified legal framework monitored by more than 15 agencies. Beijing has imposed export bans on gallium, germanium, antimony, and silver, and restricted exports of seven medium and heavy rare earths. China has mandated that domestic chipmakers procure 50% of their equipment from Chinese suppliers, threatening an estimated $18 billion in annual US equipment sales. The United States is simultaneously building domestic manufacturing capacity through CHIPS Act investments, including a $36 billion equity stake in Intel and TSMC and Samsung fab construction in Arizona and Texas. The theory is that export controls buy time for domestic capacity to come online, but the timeline for building fabs is measured in years while retaliatory restrictions can be enacted in days.