By Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -A Dutch seizure of Chinese-owned computer chip maker Nexperia came after rising U.S. pressure on the company, a court ruling released on Tuesday showed, underscoring how the firm has been caught in the crossfire between Washington and Beijing.
The government said on Sunday that it had intervened in Netherlands-based Nexperia, which makes chips for cars and consumer electronics. It cited worries about possible transfer of technology to its Chinese parent company, Wingtech.
Wingtech was put on a U.S. “entity list” in December 2024 for its alleged role “aiding China’s government’s efforts to acquire entities with sensitive semiconductor manufacturing capability.” Washington last month expanded that list to include majority-owned subsidiaries.
The Dutch court document said records from a June 12 meeting between U.S. Commerce Department officials and the Dutch Foreign Ministry showed rising pressure to remove Nexperia’s Chinese CEO to help keep the company off the list.
“The fact that the company’s CEO is still the same Chinese owner is problematic,” the filing said, citing minutes from the Dutch-U.S. meeting. “It is almost certain the CEO will have to be replaced to qualify for the exemption from the entity list.”
CAUGHT BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND BEIJING
Nexperia is caught between the U.S. and China, with U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheting up pressure on tech as part of a broader trade war in which he threatened 100% tariffs on China’s exports last week. Beijing has announced curbs on exports of rare earths.
Nexperia faces export restrictions from both governments, it said on Tuesday, and is seeking talks. It said a new interim CEO had been put in place after the former chief executive Zhang Xuezheng was removed from his post on a Dutch court order.
The documents released on Tuesday by the Amsterdam Commercial Court showed that Nexperia had been informed by the Dutch Economic Affairs Ministry on June 5 that the new U.S. rule might be coming and it should take action. “It was clear to all involved that (a U.S. listing) could have a significant negative impact on Nexperia and its business,” it said.
Nexperia is one of the largest makers globally of basic chips such as transistors that are not technically sophisticated but are needed in large volumes.
Its biggest manufacturing site is in Hamburg, Germany, but most of its chips are packaged and assembled into larger products in China.
Wingtech on Monday told investors in China that it did not expect short-term disruption to its production and research efforts from the Dutch measures. It is working on a legal appeal, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.
The source said that company executives in the meeting believed that Dutch authorities were acquiescing to the United States and added that the company was very confident that it could have the decision reversed.
The Dutch government said on Tuesday there was no U.S. involvement or pressure in the decision to intervene in Nexperia.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Karen Freifeld in New York, and Samuel Shen, Liam Mo and Brenda GohEditing by Adam Jourdan, Kirsten Donovan and Matthew Lewis)
