Overview
- Vincent Karremans said he used a 1952 emergency law to act at Nexperia on September 30 and lifted the measure on November 19 only after China removed export restrictions on its chips.
- The minister told Parliament he deliberately avoided consulting other EU countries or the United States and kept MPs uninformed to minimize the risk of leaks and irreversible moves by Nexperia’s leadership.
- Karremans maintained that, with current knowledge, he would take the same step again and called the measure the only proportionate option.
- Two days after the minister’s action, the Dutch Enterprise Chamber suspended Nexperia CEO Zhang Xuezheng, an unusually rapid decision according to Karremans.
- Industry figures in Berlin warned that Europe faces further semiconductor supply disruptions and argued that fully disentangling supply chains from China is not feasible.