The request marks the latest twist in the turmoil surrounding the Chinese-owned firm, which has become a flashpoint in broader disputes involving China, Europe, and the US, following months of internal conflicts, regulatory intervention and supply-chain disruption.

Chinese operations of the embattled Netherlands-based firm are increasingly bypassing its Dutch parent and turning towards China-based wafer suppliers – including Wuxi NCE Power, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics, Yangjie Technology and WingSkySemi – according to Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the US House Select Committee on the Communist Party.

“Any shift to unvetted PRC suppliers would raise significant concerns regarding safety certification, quality control and the reliability of components embedded in critical vehicle systems,” he wrote in a letter seen by the Post.

The letter, sent on Tuesday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the head of the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Jeffrey Kessler, comes after Nexperia, owned by the Chinese company Wingtech, suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant, putting pressure on its Chinese operations to find alternatives.

Behind the Nexperia crisis and China-Netherlands tech tensions | China Future Tech webinar

Behind the Nexperia crisis and China-Netherlands tech tensions | China Future Tech webinar