We are painfully aware of ‘on back order’ or ‘no delivery date’ when ordering parts. Given the international tensions between the USA, EU27, UK and China – plus other regions – trade disputes at company level can end up as part of a bigger international dispute.
Surface mounted wonders
Inside each electronic module there will be a circuit board, a main processor, a gaggle of inexpensive smaller components, encased on a plastic box. Should anything become unobtainable, the sub-assembly cannot be made. The companies making such parts can be Tier 3 or 4 suppliers – a long way from the finished assembly the bodyshop is trying to buy.
Nexperia, a former Philips company, now owned by Wingtech, makes small controller components which are fitted inside many, many control modules. Their products and the service level are so reliable few Tier 1 suppliers or vehicle manufacturers thought there could ever be an issue.
The company started as Mullard Radio Valve Co. Ltd. of Southfields, London, in 1920 with help from Radio Communication Co to compete with Marconi for Royal Navy communications contracts. This was also right at the start of the mass market radio revolution. By 1924 the foundation of the BBC forced the company to seek investors, with Philips buying half the company, who then bought it out by 1927.
By the mid-1950s Philips stated making their first solid state switches (transistors) at Nijmegen in the Netherlands, which expanded via the UK, Germany, Hong Kong and the USA by the 1970s. In 1988 the Mullard name was replaced by Philips Components Ltd – annual output was 3 billion solid state devices per year, which later became Philips Semiconductors Ltd.
In 2006 yet another re-name, NXP, which later hived off the solid-state device unit into ‘Nexperia’, with Beijing Jianguang Asset Management and Wise Road Capital (both from China) buying shares in 2016. Annual production reached more than 100 billion solid state devices per year.
Wingtech Technologies bought Nexperia during 2019. By this stage parts of the silicon wafer and base component production were in the Netherlands, and the components were finished as well as tested in China before export worldwide. A truly global operation.
Concerns from the Netherlands
From 2022 onwards senior management of the Dutch part of Nexperia informed the Dutch Government about concerns including:
- Apparently setting up alternative bank accounts to divert customer money to China without informing clients
- Apparently trying to de-register Nexperia patents in the Netherlands and set up China versions
- Apparently discovering a plan to remove silicon wafer production lines and other specialist equipment from the Netherlands to China.
- Allegedly Neperia China failed to pay Nexperia Netherlands for some silicon wafer shipments.
The Dutch Government implemented a law to take over the Dutch part of Nexperia, on 30th September 2025 and to remove the CEO.
Concerns from the USA
US Commerce Department added Wingtech to an ‘entities watch list’ in December 2024 (Biden administration). This required Wingtech to apply for licencing of any USA technology it needed to use. From September 2025 (Trump administration) the action was extended to cover all subsidiaries of Wingtech, such as Nexperia.
In an attempt to by-pass the rule, Nexperia in China formally declared independence from Wingtech – a move not recognised by the US Commerce Department.
The Dutch part of Nexperia told the US Commerce Department that it would comply with all requirements.
Defence and concerns from China
On a company level Nexperia China told some staff in the Netherlands to ignore all European staff, and that they would be paid regardless of events. There was diplomatic outrage from China towards the Dutch and USA Governments, accusing them of collusion. The China Government demanded release of the Dutch company and reinstatement of the CEO.
The upshot
In effect, from 30th September the supply chain inside Nexperia was broken, leaving vehicle manufacturers and their main Tier 1 suppliers with nothing more than the components in store. In a matter of two weeks alerts came from the USA, Japan and Europe as Nexperia component production stoppage affected a large part of the automotive business.
Some vehicle and subassembly manufacturers got out the extra big credit card to buy out stocks from where ever they could find it, while others pushed alternative sources to increase production. In parallel a Presidential meeting between Mr Donald Trump and Mr Jinping Xi on the 29th October 2025 went well, although USA and China have rather different views about what was achieved.
The Dutch Government made approaches to China along the lines of handing back control of the Dutch plant.
The fight is not over
The way China announced in April 2025 limiting rare earth metal exports, and then extended the number of metals along with even tighter controls in October 2025 was a shock. China has spent four decades acquiring rights to mine and the systems to process up to 90 per cent of the global supply of key materials. This was a demonstration of absolute control. There was considerable provocation from the USA during this period, and it is part of a wider global struggle for supremacy.
The EU27 and UK combined GDP is larger than that of USA or China, so perhaps the collective European voice should be heard. We are not just a political football.
