The Netherlands will defend its economic interests in selling microchip equipment to China, which is further evidence of the country's resistance to Washington's attempts to cut off China from semiconductor technology, Bloomberg writes.

The European country is home to ASML Holding NV, which dominates the market for one-of-a-kind cutting-edge chip-making equipment that has become the center of U.S. government efforts to limit China.

Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Lie Schreinemacher told lawmakers that the Netherlands will make its own decision regarding the sale of ASML chips to China amid negotiations on trade rules with the U.S. and other allies.

"It is important that we defend our own interests -- our national safety, but also our economic interests,” Schreinemacher told lawmakers at the parliament in The Hague. 

Schreinemacher's comments appear to point to growing Dutch opposition to the U.S. call for the Netherlands to join Washington on export controls to undermine Beijing's ambitions to build its own chip industry and improve its military capabilities. The European country wants to maintain access to China as a major market.

Last week, a Dutch minister said that the U.S. should not expect the Netherlands to unconditionally accept its approach to China's export restrictions.

U.S. officials are pressuring the Dutch government to ban the sale of immersion lithography machines, the most advanced type of equipment in ASML's deep ultraviolet line, Bloomberg News reported. The Biden administration is working to get allies, including the Netherlands and Japan, to take drastic measures.

The Netherlands is key to the struggle because ASML is one of a handful of companies that dominate the market for semiconductor-manufacturing equipment. Its peers include Applied Materials Inc., Lam Research Corp. and KLA Corp. in the US, and Tokyo Electron Ltd. in Japan.  

Senior US officials -- including Alan Estevez, the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security -- are traveling to the Netherlands this month to discuss export controls. But an immediate accord isn’t expected to come out of the talks, Bloomberg News has reported. 

EU negotiators are working on a number of contentious trade issues with Washington. Countries, especially France, have said the measures could harm the European economy and have raised the possibility of a complaint to the World Trade Organization.

These issues will be a topic of discussion early next month at the Trade and Technology Council, a high-level meeting between EU and U.S. officials.