Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle with the U.S. to tighten controls on exports of advanced chip-making equipment to China, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources.

In October, the Biden administration issued a series of restrictions aimed at stopping exports of chip manufacturing technology and some chips made with U.S. equipment anywhere in the world to China.

In addition to some U.S. equipment suppliers, Japan's Tokyo Electron Ltd and Dutch lithography specialist ASML Holding NV were two important players necessary for the sanctions to be effective, making their governments' acceptance of the restrictions a key milestone.

New restrictions could be announced in the coming weeks.