The executive director of ASML Holding NV, a Dutch semiconductor manufacturer, questioned whether the U.S. effort to force the Netherlands to adopt new rules restricting exports to China makes sense.

Maybe they think we should meet at the negotiating table, but ASML has already made sacrifices, CEO Peter Wennink told NRC Handelsblad.

Under U.S. pressure, he said, the Dutch government has already banned ASML from exporting its most advanced lithography machines to China starting in 2019, which he said has benefited U.S. companies that sell alternative technology.

He noted that while 15% of ASML's sales come from China, U.S. chip suppliers have 25% and sometimes more than 30%.

In October, the Biden administration issued new export rules for U.S. companies aimed at denying China the ability to produce advanced semiconductor chips to slow its military and technological development.

Washington is urging the Netherlands, Japan and other unspecified countries to adopt similar rules. The Dutch trade minister confirmed that talks are ongoing.

Wennink said it seems contradictory that chip makers in the U.S. can sell their most advanced chips to Chinese customers, while ASML can only sell older chip-making equipment. U.S. chip makers have no problem with China as a customer, he said.

Meanwhile, it's common knowledge that chip technology for purely military applications is usually 10 to 15 years old. Yet the technology used to produce such chips can still be sold to China, he added.