On November 19, Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Carremans issued a statement announcing the suspension of the executive order targeting Nexperia. Carremans stated that this move aims to “show goodwill” and will continue to engage in “constructive dialogue” with the Chinese government in the coming period. Later the same day, China’s Ministry of Commerce responded, saying that China welcomes the Dutch side’s initiative to suspend the executive order, regarding it as the first step in the right direction towards a proper resolution of the issue. However, there is still a gap from addressing the root cause of the volatility and chaos in the global semiconductor supply chain – “revoking the executive order”. It is hoped that the Dutch side will continue to demonstrate its willingness to cooperate sincerely with China and truly put forward constructive solutions to the problem.

On September 30, the Dutch government froze Chinese company Wingtech Technology’s control of Nexperia for one year on the grounds of “national security”, triggering shocks in the global automotive supply chain. This left automakers in the United States, Europe, Japan and other regions facing a chip supply crisis, and production lines for some vehicle models were even shut down temporarily. The latest statement from the Dutch side means that the Dutch government will return control of Nexperia to the Chinese enterprise, reflecting a rational return in its decision-making direction under realistic pressure, which sends a rare positive signal to the global supply chain.

This incident offers three inspirations for the Dutch government. Firstly, “national security” is not a one-size-fits-all “shield”. In recent years, some Western countries have frequently imposed restrictions on Chinese enterprises in the name of “national security”, but in the Nexperia incident, this unreasonable move backfired – the administrative takeover directly disrupted the supply chain, and the fierce reaction from the industry far exceeded the Dutch government’s expectations. The Dutch side realized that if it continues to push for the takeover of Nexperia, it will pay a huge economic price in the short term and lose more national credibility in the long term.

Secondly, respect the reality that “technology chains cannot be decoupled”. Nexperia is one of the world’s most important suppliers of basic chips, with its production capacity layout showing a closely coupled structure of “European design + Chinese packaging and testing”. Attempting to forcibly dismantle this industrial structure through administrative means will only cause greater harm to the Netherlands itself and the industrial chains relying on its products.

Finally, using political means to interfere in normal economic cooperation has proven to be a mistake. In recent years, the Netherlands has been under enormous external pressure on its technological policy towards China. The Nexperia incident shows that excessive politicization will not only make Dutch enterprises lose markets but also may leave them at a passive disadvantage in the supply chain.