A globally critical chip firm is driving a wedge between the U.S. and Netherlands over China tech policy

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks with U.S. President Joe Biden. The U.S. has been putting pressure on the Netherlands to block exports to China of high-tech semiconductor equipment. The Netherlands is home to ASML, one of the most important companies in the global semiconductor supply chain.

The Netherlands is an important European country that could hold the key to China's future in manufacturing cutting-edge Semiconductor.

The Netherlands has a population of 17 million and is home to ASML, a world leader in chip manufacturing. China wants to have access to the high-tech chip-making machine produced by it.

The U.S. appears to have persuaded the Netherlands to prevent shipments to China for now, but relations look rocky if they are cut off from the world's second- largest economy.

The town of Veldhoven has a company that doesn't make chips. It makes and sells EUV machines to Taiwan's TSMC.

The machines are required to make the most advanced chips in the world, and ASML is the only company in the world that makes them.

One of the most important chip companies is ASML.

The Netherlands appears to have been the focus of U.S. pressure in the first half of the year. The Dutch government withdrew ASML's license to export its EUV machines to China after intense lobbying from the U.S. government.

The U.S. started a trade war with China that turned into a battle for tech supremacy as Washington tried to cut off critical technology supplies to Chinese companies.

There were restrictions on the amount of chips that could be exported that crippled the mobile business of the company. SMIC was cut off from the U.S. technology sector because of the export blacklist.

The assault on China's chip industry has been furthered by the administration.

In October, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security introduced sweeping rules requiring companies to apply for a license if they want to sell certain advanced computing chips to China.

The introduction of these rules prompted ASML to stop servicing Chinese clients in the U.S.

The Netherlands is under pressure to follow U.S. rules. Department of Commerce, and Tarun Chhabra, senior director for technology and national security at the U.S.

If China could get these machines from ASML or Tokyo Electron, the U.S. government would be useless.

The U.S. government would like to get countries such as the Netherlands, South Korea, and Japan on board in order to convert the controls into a multilateral one.

The Department of Commerce did not reply to a request for comment when contacted by CNBC.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn't comment on officials' visits. CNBC asked the ministry more questions.

The U.S. Secretary of State praised the growing convergence in the approach to the challenges that China poses.

The picture from the Netherlands doesn't look as good.

The minister for foreign trade and development cooperation of the Netherlands said last week that the national security interest is of paramount importance.

Beijing is an important trade partner, she said.

CNBC had a contributor to this report.