Netherlands suspends state seizure of Chinese chipmaker Nexperia
The Netherlands has suspended its seizure of the Chinese-owned chipmaker at the heart of a six-week dispute between the EU and China that threatened to halt car production at sites around the world.The Dutch minister of economic affairs, Vincent Karremans, said in a statement on Wednesday that the government would suspend its decision to take supervisory control of Nexperia as a gesture of “goodwill” to Beijing.“In light of recent developments, I consider it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending my order under the Goods Availability Act,” he said.The seizure on 30 September had prompted a furious response from China, which in early October banned exports of Nexperia chips from the country, where most of them are packaged and finished.That threw global carmakers’ supply chains into turmoil, leading to production pauses in Mexico and warnings from EU manufacturers that they were “days away” from stoppages.
China lifted the export ban on 9 November, and Volkswagen and Honda have indicated that Nexperia chips are flowing again to their factories in Germany and Mexico.However, a war of words erupted last week between Karremans and the Chinese ministry of commerce, and a Dutch delegation met officials in Beijing to try to resolve the matter.“In the past few days we have had constructive meetings with the Chinese authorities,” Karremans said on Wednesday.“We are positive about the measures already taken by the Chinese authorities to ensure the supply of chips to Europe and the rest of the world.We see this as a show of goodwill.
We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities.”The Dutch minister said he had moved to take effective control of Nexperia, which is headquartered in the Dutch city of Nijmegen but owned by China’s Wingtech Technology, to ensure Europe was not locked out of chip production “in an emergency”.He said the decision, made after consultation with the European Commission and others, had been the “right step” to prevent Nexperia from moving intellectual property and physical assets from its factory in Hamburg and its corporate HQ in Nijmegen.“The Netherlands has considered it the right moment to take a constructive step by suspending the order under the Goods Availability Act, in close consultation with European and international partners.The Netherlands will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the Chinese authorities in the period ahead,” Karremans added.
Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionHe also indicated that the Netherlands would retain its right to repeat the move if any threat to the production or intellectual property reoccurred.The intelligence the government received about Nexperia “showed there was a threat to the continuity on Dutch and European soil of crucial technological knowledge and capabilities”, Karremans said.Nexperia in the Netherlands welcomed the recent steps by the Dutch and Chinese governments, but said “full restoration” of the chip supply chain required cooperation from Nexperia China.It said China should have enough wafers, on which the chips are mounted, for “several months”.However, the European car manufacturers association (ACEA) said it was still concerned about continuity of supply.
“For us the situation remains critical and we need a workable contingency agreement to ensure supply in both directions,” said Jonathan O’Riordan, ACEA’s international trade director,The Netherlands has remained a party to a related case that led to the removal of Nexperia’s former chief executive, the Wingtech founder, Zhang Xuezheng,The Chinese owner of Nexperia urged the Dutch government to end its legal action completely rather than simply suspend it, arguing that if ministers were acting with “sincerity” they would submit new filings with the court involved in the original ministerial order, the enterprise chamber of the Amsterdam court of appeal,Wingtech said: “Minister Karremans justified his actions by accusing Nexperia’s CEO of various acts of alleged mismanagement,Wingtech strongly rejects these accusations and points out that, to date, no proof has been provided.
”Karremans told the Guardian last week he had no regrets about the extraordinary move to take supervisory control of Nexperia under the Goods Availability Act, a never-before-invoked cold war law designed to protect European production in emergency or war situations.The Chinese commerce ministry responded to the interview by expressing its “extreme disappointment” in the minister.
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