China has ended export restrictions on Nexperia chips, easing a supply bottleneck and pointing to a de-escalation in the dispute over the Dutch-based semiconductor firm.

Germany’s Aumovio, an automotive supplier that had faced supply chain strain due to the halt, said it has secured an exemption to resume shipments.  

“We applied for and received an exemption from the export restrictions. We received it the day before yesterday verbally, yesterday in writing,” Reuters quoted the company’s CEO Philipp von Hirschheydt as saying.

The development follows a Bloomberg report that the Dutch government is prepared to suspend an order enabling it to block or amend key decisions at Nexperia if China restarts exports of critical chips.

The Netherlands took control of Nexperia in September this year, citing concerns that its Chinese owner Wingtech planned to shift European production to China, posing risks to European economic security.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs invoked the Goods Availability Act to prevent any relocation of parts of the business.

China subsequently halted overseas shipments of Nexperia’s finished chips, most of which are packaged in China.

Headquartered in the Netherlands but Chinese-owned, Nexperia produces high-volume, widely used semiconductors for vehicles and other electronics.

Aumovio, recently separated from Continental AG, supplies components such as sensors, brakes and automated driving systems.

It operates around a dozen factories in China and serves major carmakers including BMW, Volkswagen and Stellantis.

The company routes Nexperia chips from China to Hungary before distributing them to its global plant network.

“It will take some time before all procedures and processes will get back to normal,” Bloomberg quoted von Hirschheydt as saying.

Still, “if everything I know today is correct, we are not going to be affected,” he added.

Nexperia originated in 2017 when NXP sold its Standard Products unit to JAC Capital and Wise Road Capital for $2.75bn. In late 2019, Wingtech Technology acquired a controlling stake for $3.6bn.