On February 12, 2026, lawmakers from both major parties in the US House of Representatives sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. In this letter, they urged for a thorough enhancement of export controls on chip-making equipment destined for China, citing national security concerns. The legislators recommended broadening the existing controls, which are currently aimed at specific entities and processes, to include a nationwide ban on the export of chip manufacturing equipment to China. The only exceptions would be for equipment that China can produce independently. Concurrently, they urged allies like the Netherlands and Japan to impose nationwide restrictions on the export of critical equipment and to establish deadlines for these measures to take effect. Should these allies not meet the deadlines, the US would bar the use of US-made components in the production of relevant equipment sold to China. Furthermore, they suggested imposing additional restrictions on maintenance services for equipment already sold, aiming to hinder China's efforts to develop its own equipment industry by relying on imported components. Data indicates that in 2024, China imported $38 billion worth of chip manufacturing equipment from countries including the US, Japan, and the Netherlands. Notably, the Netherlands' exports of photolithography equipment to China doubled for two consecutive years from 2022 to 2024.