A leading German auto supplier said Friday that it had received permission to export Nexperia chips from China again as Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed ‘positive signals’ of de-escalation in a dispute that has alarmed carmakers.
Dutch officials in September effectively took control of the Netherlands-based chipmaker Nexperia, whose Chinese parent company Wingtech is backed by Beijing.
China responded by banning re-exports of the firm’s chips, triggering warnings from automakers of production stoppages as the components are critical to onboard electronics.
But Beijing announced at the weekend it would exempt some chips from the export ban, reportedly part of a trade deal agreed by President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Aumovio, which supplies components like sensors and displays to top automakers, said it had ‘received an export license from the Chinese government to export Nexperia chips’.
‘We received the written confirmation yesterday,’ a spokeswoman for the group, until recently part of Continental, told AFP.