BEIJING: China said Saturday it will exempt some Nexperia chips from an export ban that has alarmed European businesses, days after trade talks between the leaders of the world&#39;s two largest economies. Anxiety over chip shortages began when Dutch officials invoked a Cold War-era law in late September to effectively take control of Nexperia, whose parent company Wingtech is backed by the Chinese government. China in response banned any re-exports of Nexperia chips to Europe and accused the United States of meddling in Dutch legal procedures to remove Nexperia&#39;s Chinese CEO. &quot;We will comprehensively consider the actual situation of enterprises and grant exemptions to exports that meet the criteria,&quot; a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement. The resumption of some Nexperia shipments was part of a trade deal agreed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump after talks in South Korea on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources. Chinese and European Union officials were also to discuss Nexperia while meeting in Brussels the same day, EU spokesman Olof Gill had said. Nexperia produces relatively simple technologies such as diodes, voltage regulators and transistors that are nonetheless crucial, as vehicles increasingly rely on electronics. The chips are mainly found in cars but also in a wide range of industrial components as well as consumer and mobile electronics like refrigerators. The company makes them in Europe before sending them to China for finishing and then re-exporting them back to European clients. Automaker anxiety&nbsp;European carmakers and parts suppliers had warned of chip shortages supplied by Nexperia that would force stoppages at production lines in Europe. The chipmaker supplies 49 percent of the electronic components used in the European automotive industry, according to German financial daily Handelsblatt. The European auto lobby ACEA warned last month that production would be seriously hit. &quot;Without these chips, European automotive suppliers cannot build the parts and components needed to supply vehicle manufacturers and this therefore threatens production stoppages,&quot; the group said. Nexperia&#39;s chips, while widely used, are not &quot;unique&quot; in terms of technology and therefore &quot;easily substitutable&quot;, French parts maker OPmobility said. But suppliers must get the new products approved by automakers, which takes time. Beijing suggested on Saturday some shipments would resume. Companies who were experiencing difficulties could contact the ministry or local commerce authorities, the Chinese ministry spokesperson said.

China

China announced it will allow limited exemptions to its export ban on Nexperia chips, easing tensions with Europe amid fears of automotive supply disruptions and following trade talks between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

China to exempt some Nexperia orders from export ban

BEIJING: China&#39;s leading state-backed semiconductor association said Tuesday it &quot;firmly opposes&quot; Dutch authorities intervening over a European subsidiary of Chinese chip firm Wingtech. The Netherlands invoked the Goods Availability Act to take control of Dutch-based chip maker Nexperia in late September, citing national security concerns, a statement published by the Dutch government said Sunday. Blocked or reversed&nbsp;This means that while the company -- based in the Dutch city of Nijmegen -- can continue regular production, its decisions can be blocked or reversed by the Dutch government. The move was because of &quot;recent and acute signals of serious governance shortcomings and actions&quot; within Chinese-owned Nexperia, the statement said. The China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA) on Tuesday said it supported its member Wingtech in safeguarding its rights and interests, slamming the Dutch authorities&#39; latest moves. &quot;We oppose the practice of abusing the concept of &#39;national security&#39; and imposing selective and discriminatory restrictions on overseas branches of Chinese enterprises,&quot; the CSIA said in a statement. &lsquo;Discriminatory measures&rsquo;&nbsp;&quot;Discriminatory measures targeting specific enterprises will undermine the open, inclusive, and collaborative global semiconductor ecosystem, and we firmly oppose such measures,&quot; it added. Once part of Dutch electronics giant Philips and its semiconductor spin-off NXP, Nexperia was eventually bought by China&#39;s Wingtech Technology in 2018. It makes chips for everyday goods such as cars and refrigerators. A European Commission spokesman said Monday that the Dutch government had intervened in Nexperia to &quot;ensure security of supply in a strategically sensitive sector&quot;. &quot;The Dutch government is addressing a potential risk to both Dutch and wider European economic security,&quot; he said. &lsquo;Relevant countries&rsquo;&nbsp;When asked about the case, China&#39;s foreign ministry urged &quot;relevant countries&quot; to &quot;earnestly adhere to market principles and refrain from politicizing economic and trade issues&quot;. &quot;China consistently opposes generalizing the concept of national security and discriminatory practices against firms from specific countries,&quot; spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a new briefing Monday. Semiconductors have become a key battleground between China and the West. Washington&#39;s &lsquo;entity lists&rsquo;The United States and the Netherlands are among the powers that have imposed restrictions on exporting advanced chip-making equipment to China, fearing Beijing could use it to make cutting-edge weapons. Wingtech was put on one of Washington&#39;s &quot;entity lists&quot; in December, meaning it had been determined by the government to be acting contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.

Business

Says it supported its member Wingtech in safeguarding its rights; The Netherlands invoked the Goods Availability Act to take control of Dutch-based chip maker Nexperia in late September, citing national security concerns. 

China's semiconductor body slams Dutch intervention of Wingtech

THE HAGUE: The Dutch government took effective control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia, in what it said was a &ldquo;highly exceptional&rdquo; move over worries that corporate governance shortcomings pose a potential risk to European economic security. In a statement late Sunday, the Dutch ministry of economic affairs said it had invoked the rarely used Goods Availability Act to intervene in the business of Nexperia, which makes semiconductors used in the automotive and consumer technology industries.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1977462365701501128&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=79f3e8bbfb6998ee9f3d17259b8297858543e04e&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 487px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="1977462365701501128"></iframe></div></div>Nexperia based in the Dutch city of Nijmegen but owned by China&#39;s Wingtech Technology.&nbsp;Risk to economic security&nbsp;Concerns about Nexperia&rsquo;s governance &ldquo;posed a threat to the continuity and safeguarding on Dutch and European soil of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities,&quot; the ministry said. &ldquo;Losing these capabilities could pose a risk to Dutch and European economic security,&rdquo; it said, without elaborating. The government said it wanted to prevent a situation in which Nexperia&#39;s chips would &ldquo;become unavailable in an emergency.&rdquo; The government provided few details about its decision to invoke the act on September 30, but the move underscores wider geopolitical tensions between China and the West over the development and mastery of advanced technologies such as computer chips. Nexperia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. &lsquo;Politicization of commercial matters&rsquo;Wingtech said in a social media post that it &ldquo;firmly opposes the politicization of commercial matters.&quot; Wingtech called the Dutch government&#39;s move &ldquo;an excessive intervention based on geopolitical bias rather than a fact-based risk assessment&rdquo; that&#39;s based on the &ldquo;unfounded pretext of national security.&quot; Wingtech shares slumped 10% - the daily limit - on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Wingtech told the exchange that the decision &ldquo;temporarily restricts&quot; its control over Nexperia. The Dutch government said it wanted to prevent a situation in which Nexperia&rsquo;s chips would &ldquo;become unavailable in an emergency.&rdquo;Nexperia&rsquo;s &ldquo;regular production process can continue,&rdquo; it added. &lsquo;Legal remedies&rsquo;The company said it would pursue &ldquo;legal remedies,&rdquo; vowed to protect the rights and interests of the company and its shareholders; and is &ldquo;actively contacting relevant government departments to seek support.&rdquo; The Dutch government said its move to exert control means &ldquo;company decisions may be blocked or reversed by the Minister of Economic Affairs if they are (potentially) harmful to the interests of the company, to its future as a Dutch and European enterprise, and/or to the preservation of this critical value chain for Europe.&rdquo; Nexperia was spun off from Phillips Semiconductors two decades ago and then purchased in 2018 by Wingtech. In 2023, the British government blocked Nexperia&#39;s bid to acquire Wales-based chipmaker Newport Wafer Fab, citing national security risks. Late last year, the US Commerce Department included Wingtech in an expanded list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls. &lsquo;Risk to our national security&rsquo;&nbsp;Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the move was intended to impair China&rsquo;s ability to use advanced technologies that &ldquo;pose a risk to our national security.&rdquo; China &ldquo;consistently opposes the overstretching of national security concepts and discriminatory practices targeting companies from specific countries,&rdquo; Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said Monday when asked about the issue. &ldquo;Relevant countries should genuinely uphold market principles and avoid politicizing economic and trade issues.&rdquo; The European Union has been in &ldquo;close contact&rdquo; with Dutch authorities and will now work with the Netherlands on &ldquo;next steps&rdquo; over securing crucial technological capabilities on the continent, European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.

Artificial Intelligence

Dutch ministry of economic affairs says it invoked Goods Availability Act to intervene in the business of Nexperia, which makes semiconductors; Nexperia based in the Dutch city of Nijmegen is owned by China's Wingtech Technology.

Articles tagged with "Nexperia"

China to exempt some Nexperia orders from export ban

China's semiconductor body slams Dutch intervention of Wingtech

Dutch govt takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia