China Warns of Chip Shortage Risk Amid Nexperia Conflict

China’s Ministry of Commerce warned of a ‘new conflict’ between Nexperia’s headquarters in the Netherlands and its China unit, potentially triggering disruptions to global chip production, Reuters reported on Saturday, March 7, 2026. The warning follows earlier disruptions in the global automotive industry in October after Beijing imposed export restrictions on Nexperia chips produced in China. The policy came after the Dutch government in The Hague seized the company from its parent in China, Wingtech. After a series of diplomatic negotiations, chip shortages had abated. However, conflicts between Nexperia’s Netherlands HQ and its China unit have escalated. The Netherlands HQ supports lifting Wingtech’s control over the company. In contrast, Nexperia’s China unit demands Wingtech’s control be restored. Beijing’s warning came a day after Nexperia’s chip packaging unit in China accused the Dutch HQ of deactivating accounts of all employees in China. ‘Nexperia in the Netherlands has seriously disrupted production and normal operations. If this triggers a global semiconductor production crisis and supply chain disruption again, then the Netherlands must bear full responsibility,’ the ministry said in an official statement on its website. In a statement on Friday, March 6, 2026, the Nexperia entity in the Netherlands did not deny action on the information technology (IT) system. However, the company rejected accusations that the move affected production at the assembly and test facilities in Guangdong Province. Since then, both sides have accused each other of bad faith in negotiations. The Netherlands HQ has also suspended wafer deliveries to the company’s factory in Guangdong. Mediation efforts by the governments of China, The Netherlands, and the EU via Brussels have so far failed to resolve the deadlock. Beijing also said the Dutch government has not sufficiently pushed for compromise from the Nexperia HQ, including halting legal proceedings in Amsterdam that in October moved Wingtech’s shares to a Dutch lawyer.