The Dutch government has taken control of chip manufacturer Nexperia. The company is based in the Netherlands, but is owned by the Chinese Wingtech group. The Dutch government justified the move by warning of risks to Europe’s economic security and by accusing Nexperia of “serious deficiencies in corporate governance.”
The aim is to transfer important technologies from Nexperia China to prevent. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Sunday evening that the intervention was made because there were corresponding concerns.
In addition, it is apparently about ensuring the seamless delivery of Nexperia products. “The decision aims to prevent a situation in which the goods manufactured by Nexperia (finished and semi-finished products) would no longer be available in an emergency,” the ministry statement said. Now you can reverse or block harmful decisions. However, production can continue.
Nexperia provides chips primarily for those Auto industry and for consumer electronics. The company is one of the world’s largest suppliers of computer chips, diodes and transistors. At the same time, it is developing more advanced technologies aimed at using chips to produce batteries more efficiently.
Nexperia was originally owned by the Dutch Philips Group, but was 100 percent acquired by Wingtech in 2018 for $3.6 billion.
In the sights of the USA
The Dutch government’s move comes at a time of heightened tensions between Western countries and China over access to cutting-edge technology such as advanced semiconductors and critical raw materials. The USA until recently had the export of AI chips from the US manufacturer Nvidia forbidden to China. The ban was lifted a few weeks ago. In return, the People’s Republic is now making it increasingly difficult for the US company to sell its products in China.
The Netherlands play a key role in the semiconductor market anyway, because the country is the home of the chip supplier ASML. Its machines are indispensable for the production of state-of-the-art semiconductors. Under pressure from the USA, the government in The Hague has severely restricted the export of this technology to China.
In the Trade dispute with the USA China also imposed far-reaching restrictions on the export of rare earths on Thursday. The raw materials are used in products such as cars or wind turbines.
However, the Dutch intervention in Nexperia took place on September 30th and only now became public.
Wingtech has been on a United States list of companies classified as a threat to national security since December 2024. Last month, the US expanded the rules for this list to automatically include subsidiaries that are 50 percent or more owned by companies on the list. It was initially unclear whether the Dutch government’s current move was related to this. Both countries typically work closely together on export controls in the computer chip industry. A spokesman for the Dutch government said on Monday that there was no US involvement in the decision to intervene at Nexperia.
A spokesman for Nexperia said the company complies with “all existing laws and regulations, export controls and sanctions regimes”.