Globally, these tit-for-tat responses have become common. In 2024, Beijing restricted exports of key minerals used in semiconductor manufacturing and tightened rules on the sale of foreign chips after security concerns over Nvidia’s products. Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that European governments have grown more wary of the transfer of critical assets and intellectual property to China.
The instinct to protect national industries is hardly new. Yet for all the Western outrage over Chinese technology theft, it is worth remembering that Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the US, openly encouraged what would now be called industrial espionage. During the early years of the American Republic, the English-born engineer Samuel Slater memorised Richard Arkwright’s water-frame technology and helped establish America’s first water-powered cotton mill in Rhode Island. Hamilton later praised such imitation in his 1791 Report on Manufactures.
Fast forward to 2025, and when the so-called “Magnificent Seven” (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla) entered the trillion-dollar valuation club, their rise was attributed to genius and innovation. Yet when they falter, as in the Tesla versus BYD competition, blame often shifts to external factors such as unfair regulation or intellectual theft. US exceptionalism is cast as merit-based, while China’s ambition for technological leadership is condemned as unscrupulous.
Why, then, would a European nation insert itself into a Sino-American contest for semiconductor supremacy in which the continent is a distant third?
European leaders argue that the answer lies in safeguarding sovereignty and reducing dependence on authoritarian regimes. But the economic consequences are already becoming clear. Most of Nexperia’s production takes place in China, leaving the company unable to meet demand without that capacity. Since the takeover, several of its operations have slowed, and hundreds of employees in the Netherlands, the UK and Germany face redundancy. Global carmakers such as Volkswagen and Volvo have warned of possible production delays due to shortages of automotive chips, which are vital for vehicle electronics and control systems.
The Netherlands is not alone. Across Europe, governments have embraced the rhetoric of “de-coupling” from China even as their economies remain deeply entangled with it. The seizure of Nexperia aligns closely with European proponents of Donald Trump’s “liberation day” discourse, his campaign for economic disentanglement from China framed as moral redemption, and it foreshadows further clawbacks across the Maastricht-born union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s call for “de-risking rather than decoupling” now rings hollow against this backdrop.
Source: Here
