Dutch authorities ousted the Chinese-owned company’s management on September 30, claiming that they had become aware of plans to move production of one of Europe’s premier chipmaking facilities to China.

Unsealed Dutch court documents showed that the US government had threatened to add Nexperia’s Netherlands subsidiary to a blacklist on October 1 unless the Chinese management was removed, prompting rampant speculation as to how much pressure from Washington informed The Hague’s unprecedented intervention.

In response, Beijing put restrictions on what Nexperia products could be shipped out of the country, where 70 per cent of the company’s chips – vital to car manufacturing – are processed and tested, sending panic through European industry.

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

Nexperia supplies chips to nearly every major European carmaker, producing tens of billions annually.