China retaliates in response to Dutch takeover of Nexperia, blocking chipmaker’s exports after takeover – 861,000-square-foot assembly site in Gaungdong hit by spiraling trade war
China has blocked the export of some products of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, according to Bloomberg. This is the same company that the Dutch government recently took over from its Chinese parent company to prevent the transfer of so-called “key technological knowledge” from the country. The action appears to be retaliatory in nature and highlights an increasingly multipolar world that is developing under the umbrella of the rapid global expansion of artificial intelligence capabilities and the rush to secure vital strategic chip development resources.
In 2025, China’s trade relations with Western countries were much more tense than in previous years. Following increasingly aggressive global trade policies, China has moved from integrating into the broader global economy to focusing more on supporting its own semiconductor development and closer trading partners. In turn, many Western countries repeated this opinion, and the latest actions of the Dutch government seem to be yet another example of countries ensuring primarily their own silicon supplies.
However, this fresh paradigm is derived from the elderly one, and until economies are truly decoupled from dependencies, there is always scope for retaliation. Just as the Dutch government cut off China from making decisions about the future of Nexperia and its technology, China can suppress production and exports from Nexperia facilities located on its territory, which it has now done. Nexperia has said it is seeking an exception, but given the broader political and strategic forces at play, this seems unlikely without other countervailing measures.
Nexperia has multiple facilities around the world, including manufacturing, assembly and test facilities in Germany and the UK, but also has an 80,000 square meter assembly site in Guangdong Province, China. This location will not allow the export of any products in the near future.
All of this is a tertiary backdrop to the long-awaited trade negotiations between President Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, which are scheduled to take place later this month. While there have been posturing and statements suggesting they may not happen, most announcements of trade adjustments and blockades are seen as an attempt to strengthen negotiating positions ahead of the talks.
With the takeover of Nexperia by the Dutch government, CEO Zhang Xuezheng (who founded parent company Wingtech) was ousted. Nexperia’s chief financial officer, Stefan Tilger, currently serves as interim CEO, while court-appointed Dutch businessman Guido Dierick is its non-executive director.
