Netherlands mocked as ‘pirate’ after taking over China’s Nexperia

Chinese state media and pundits have called the Dutch government a “pirate” and even threatened it with a ban on rare earths, following its seizure of control of the Chinese-owned semiconductor maker Nexperia in late September.

On September 29, the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an interim rule extending its Entity List and Military End-User List to cover affiliates of the sanctioned entities. Any company at least 50% owned by a listed entity now automatically inherits the same restrictions.


On September 30 this year, having failed to persuade the Chinese owners to yield control over key decisions or go public in Europe, the Dutch government acted. The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs invoked the Goods Availability Act to take over Nexperia, citing its “serious governance shortcomings.”

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