China warns of global chip shortages as Nexperia dispute escalates again
By Eduardo Baptista
BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) – China’s Commerce Ministry on Saturday raised the possibility of a new global semiconductor supply chain crisis due to “new conflicts” between Dutch chipmaker Nexperia and its Chinese subsidiary.
Production in the global auto industry was disrupted in October when Beijing imposed export controls on Chinese-made Nexperia chips after Hague seized the company from its Chinese parent Wingtech. Nexperia’s chips are widely used in automobile electronic systems.
While the chip shortage eased following diplomatic talks, the conflict between Nexperia’s Dutch headquarters and its China-based unit intensified further; the former supported the removal of control of Wingtech and the latter demanded its restoration.
Beijing’s warning on Saturday came a day after Nexperia’s Chinese packaging arm accused the Netherlands-based headquarters of disabling the office accounts of all employees in China.
“(This) has led to new conflicts and created new difficulties and obstacles for (inter-company) negotiations,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement published on its official website. he said.
“Nexperia Netherlands has seriously disrupted the company’s normal production and operation, and if this re-triggers a global semiconductor production and supply chain crisis, the Netherlands must bear full responsibility for this,” the ministry said. he added.
In a statement on Friday, Nexperia’s Dutch subsidiary did not deny the IT action but disputed its Chinese subsidiary’s claim that it affected production at the company’s assembly and testing facility in China’s Guangdong province.
Nexperia’s Chinese subsidiary responded to the removal of control of Wingtech in September by declaring itself independent from its Dutch parent company. Both sides have since faced accusations of bad faith negotiations, while the Dutch headquarters suspended supplies of wafers to the Guangdong facility.
Efforts by Beijing, The Hague and Brussels to both mediate a solution have done little to resolve the impasse.
Beijing accused Hague of not doing enough to force a settlement from Nexperia’s Dutch headquarters or to end court proceedings in Amsterdam that transferred Wingtech’s shares to a Dutch lawyer in October.
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Jan Harvey)
