U.S. lawmakers have revised the MATCH Act to narrow its scope after industry pushback and removed one of the most sweeping provisions that prohibited sales of cryogenic etching tools to chipmakers in the countries of concern (most notably China), reports Reuters. Yet Chinese chipmakers were not allowed to obtain these tools anyway due to existing export controls, which makes the alterations somewhat cosmetic.
The updated version of the bill eliminates a nationwide restriction on cryogenic etch equipment produced by companies such as Lam Research and Tokyo Electron, according to Reuters, which claims it has seen the revised copy of the document (which does not appear to be available on official websites). In addition, the report claims that many of the restrictions proposed in the early April version of the bill have been removed, but does not elaborate. This provision had raised concerns across the semiconductor equipment industry due to its wide reach and potential impact on global trade.
