By Toby Sterling

(Reuters) – The chief executive of Dutch computer chip equipment supplier ASML (AS:ASML) expressed on Wednesday that a U.S.-led initiative to limit exports to China has increasingly become more “economically motivated.”

Christophe Fouquet, at a Citi conference in New York, anticipated that resistance to these U.S. restrictions would escalate. He asserted that China’s progress in chip manufacturing is being hampered by the existing limitations.

Fouquet stated, “I think to make the case that this is about national security is getting harder and harder.”

He continued, “Most probably there will be more pressure for restrictions, but I also think there will be more push-back and I think we have to hope we reach a certain equilibrium because as a business what we all want is a bit of clarity, a bit of stability.”

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands noted on Friday that he would carefully consider the economic interests of ASML, the nation’s largest company and Europe’s foremost technology firm, in light of ongoing U.S. and Dutch restrictions imposed in 2022 and 2023.

Since April, the U.S. government has urged ASML to cease servicing specific equipment sold to Chinese clients prior to 2024 that would now be subjected to these restrictions.

In a separate statement, Fouquet reaffirmed ASML’s financial projections for 2024 and 2025, highlighting that while the recovery in chip markets has been inconsistent, the demand for AI chips remains strong.

ASML’s largest client is TSMC, the Taiwan-based chip manufacturer for Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).