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Dutch semiconductor equipment firm ASML on Wednesday missed on net bookings expectations, suggesting a potential slowdown in demand for its critical chipmaking machines.
ASML reported net bookings of 3.94 billion euros ($4.47 billion) for the first quarter, versus a Reuters reported forecast of 4.89 billion euros.
Global chip stocks have been fragile over the last two weeks amid worries about how U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans will affect the semiconductor supply chain.
Last week, the U.S. administration announced smartphones, computers and semiconductors would be temporarily exempted from his so-called “reciprocal” duties on counterparties. But on Sunday, Trump and his top trade officials created confusion with comments that there would be no tariff “exception” for the electronics industry, and that these goods were instead moving to a different “bucket.”
On Tuesday, a federal government notice announced that the U.S. Commerce Department was conducting a national security investigation into imports of semiconductor technology and related downstream products. The probe will examine whether additional trade measures, including tariffs, are “necessary to protect national security.”
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