【By Observer Net, Qi Qian】
Dutch government's seizure of a Chinese semiconductor company has triggered chip "disconnection." After China granted export exemptions, European automotive industry remains deeply concerned.
At this point, Europeans seem to have realized something.
According to a report by the UK's Financial Times on November 12, EU officials warned that although China has resumed chip exports, European automakers and other industrial companies continue to face "devastating" chip shortages, which may cause global production line shutdowns within weeks.
It is known that Nexperia produces low-profit basic chips widely used in automotive electronic systems, controlling devices from lighting and airbag systems to door locks and windows. These key components are produced in the UK, Netherlands, and Germany, then sent to Chinese subsidiaries for assembly and then exported.
However, according to European automotive industry officials, Nexperia (Netherlands) still hasn't supplied wafers to Nexperia (China).
A European automotive industry executive said the industry is still in a "very challenging" situation, with the problem now stemming from the tension between Nexperia (Netherlands) and Nexperia (China).
A car manufacturer's executive said that while the Chinese factory has some wafer inventory, "if it can't get wafers from Germany and the EU, the inventory will run out," adding that the company has only a few weeks of chip supply left. The executive called on Nexperia (Netherlands) to resume supply as soon as possible and said, "What's happening now is puzzling and could have devastating consequences for hundreds of industries."
The Nexperia Semiconductor branch in Hamburg, Germany - British media
To avoid chip shortages worldwide, automakers are racing against time. The executive said, "Our team is working day and night to find alternative sources. We may have a few weeks of supply, but we need to resolve this quickly."
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), representing EU automakers, said, "We welcome the exemption granted by China. However, as long as there are restrictions on wafer exports from Nexperia Netherlands to its Chinese factories, we cannot obtain enough chips to meet global demand. We are moving in the right direction, but the issue is not yet resolved."
Germany's Volkswagen also stated that the situation remains "uncertain." The company said that the chip shortage currently "has not affected the production at Volkswagen's vehicle manufacturing plants in Germany," but future interruptions cannot be completely ruled out.
According to an EU official, the supply to the Chinese factory is expected to last until early to mid-December. Although the current situation is still unstable, Nexperia (China) is trying to find alternative wafer sources. To avoid large-scale supply chain disruptions, the Chinese factory may also slow down its production.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on the 3rd that despite potential blockages in wafer supplies from Europe, Nexperia (China) is still expected to deliver products to domestic semiconductor supply chain customers. According to a report from the industrial consulting firm "Intelligent Automotive," several Chinese wafer manufacturers, including Wuxi Xinjie Energy Power Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd., and Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., are able to supply wafers to Nexperia China, headquartered in Dongguan.
The chips produced by Nexperia Semiconductor are crucial to the global automotive industry - Nexperia website
Currently, Nexperia's factories in Germany and the UK produce semiconductor wafers, which are then sent to China for packaging and testing, with about 80% of the final products completed in China. In fact, this global chip supply crisis was entirely caused by the Dutch government.
Recently, China's leading semiconductor enterprise, Wenxi Technology, faced major regulatory challenges. Its core assets in the Netherlands, Nexperia Semiconductor, had their assets, intellectual property, etc., frozen for one year starting from September 30 due to instructions from the Dutch government.
The Netherlands has caused a big mess, seizing a Chinese-controlled enterprise, causing supply disruptions, triggering a "earthquake" in the global automotive supply chain, affecting automakers in the US, Europe, and Japan.
From the timeline, these operations are hard to ignore as a carefully planned "plunder." On October 14, court documents released by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal showed that as early as June this year, U.S. officials had already made their position clear to the Netherlands — if Nexperia Semiconductor wanted to obtain exemptions from the new changes in the U.S. "Entity List," its Chinese CEO "must be replaced."
On October 30, the Ministry of Commerce stated that the U.S. would suspend the implementation of its 50% penetration rule announced on September 29 for one year, and China would suspend the implementation of related export control measures announced on October 9 for one year, and will study specific detailed plans.
After the U.S. put the "50% penetration rule" on hold, the Netherlands found itself in a very awkward position, having previously followed the U.S. footsteps to seize Nexperia Semiconductor.
Sebastian Kuntin Trejo-Figueroa, a geopolitical analyst at the University of Hong Kong and a fellow of the Asia Global Institute, said directly, "The actions taken by The Hague seemed necessary at first, but a single sentence from Trump made this so-called necessity disappear... The Netherlands is facing multiple complex dilemmas regarding legal consistency, political credibility, and industrial sustainability."
On November 4, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce stated that Nexperia (Netherlands) announced on October 26 that it would stop supplying wafers to Nexperia (China), causing the latter to be unable to produce normally, resulting in turbulence and chaos in the global semiconductor supply chain. The Dutch side should bear full responsibility for this.
The spokesperson pointed out that in order to ensure the stability and security of the global semiconductor supply chain, China announced on November 1 that it would grant exemptions for exports that meet certain conditions, and efforts were made to promote Nexperia (China) to resume supply. However, the Dutch side continued to act unilaterally without any practical solutions to the problem, which will inevitably deepen the negative impact on the global semiconductor supply chain. This is something that China and the global industry do not want to see.
On November 11, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held a video conference with German Federal Minister of Economics and Climate Action Robert Habeck upon request.
Wang reiterated that to ensure the long-term stability of the global semiconductor supply chain, the Dutch side needs to demonstrate a constructive attitude and concrete actions. He hopes that Germany will play an active role, urge the Dutch government to take concrete actions as soon as possible, correct its wrong practices, revoke the relevant measures, and promote the resolution of the issue as soon as possible.
This article is exclusive to Observer Net, and unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7572021053753410082/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author and readers are welcome to express their opinions by clicking on the [top/boycott] buttons below.