China said yesterday it would exempt some Nexperia Holding NV chips from an export ban that alarmed European businesses, days after trade talks between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.
Anxiety over chip shortages began when Dutch officials invoked a Cold War-era law in September to effectively take control of Nexperia, whose parent company, Wingtech Technology Co (聞泰科技), is backed by the Chinese government.
China in response banned any re-exports of Nexperia chips to Europe and accused the US of meddling in Dutch legal procedures to remove Nexperia’s Chinese CEO.
Photo: Reuters
“We will comprehensively consider the actual situation of enterprises and grant exemptions to exports that meet the criteria,” a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a statement.
The resumption of some shipments was part of a deal agreed by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump after talks in South Korea on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.
Chinese and EU officials had planned to discuss Nexperia while meeting in Brussels the same day, EU spokesman Olof Gill had said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Nexperia produces relatively simple but crucial technologies such as diodes, voltage regulators and transistors as vehicles increasingly rely on electronics.
The chips are mainly found in cars, but are used in a wide range of industrial components, as well as consumer and mobile electronics.
The company makes them in Europe before sending them to China for finishing and then re-exporting them to European clients.
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.
“Without these chips, European automotive suppliers cannot build the parts and components needed to supply vehicle manufacturers and this therefore threatens production stoppages,” the group said.
Nexperia’s chips, while widely used, are not unique in terms of technology and easily substituted for similar components, French parts maker OPmobility said.
However, suppliers would have to get the new products approved by automakers, which takes time.
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