China resumes Nexperia chip exports after U.S.-mediated talks

China has lifted restrictions on chip exports from Nexperia’s Chinese facilities, allowing production of critical semiconductors to resume for global markets, the White House announced Friday. The decision followed discussions earlier this week in South Korea between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The export ban, imposed last month, stemmed from a political dispute with the Netherlands.

“China is taking appropriate measures to ensure trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China resumes, so that production of crucial chips can flow to the rest of the world,” the White House said in a factsheet about the latest U.S.-China trade agreement.

The Dutch government placed Nexperia, headquartered in Nijmegen, under state supervision to prevent the unauthorized transfer of technological knowledge and intellectual property to China.

Dutch officials allegedly believe the company’s Chinese owner, Zhang Xuezheng, had been stealing trade secrets from a British factory and was preparing to dismantle Nexperia’s European branch. On September 30, Minister Vincent Karremans of Economic Affairs (VVD) implemented the Availability of Goods Act (1952), freezing Nexperia’s operations.

The following day, the Enterprise Chamber of the Court of Appeal also took action against Nexperia, suspending the company’s director-owner and placing its shares under independent management. The government said the timing of the two interventions was coincidental. The near-simultaneous measures prompted China to block exports of Nexperia chips, raising concerns about potential production disruptions for automakers.