Recently, in the course of its amendment, the US ‘Multilateral Coordination Act for Hardware Technology Controls’ (MATCH Act) has, in a discreet manner, lifted a nationwide ban on low-temperature etching equipment that was specifically aimed at the Chinese market. This type of equipment, which is mainly supplied by US-based Lam Research and Japan's Tokyo Electron, plays a pivotal role in the production of 3D NAND flash memory and advanced DRAM. Outside observers view this development as a consequence of the lobbying efforts exerted by these equipment behemoths.