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Exclusive | Top Democrat demands US probe into 4 Chinese firms potentially supplying Nexperia

Letter by Raja Krishnamoorthi to US Commerce Department claims wafers made by China-based suppliers pose safety and reliability concerns

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The head office of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia in Nijmegen, Netherlands. A senior US Democrat has questioned the reliability of four Chinese semiconductor firms supplying the Dutch chipmaker. Photo: AP
Bochen Hanin Washington
A senior US Democrat is urging the Commerce Department to investigate four Chinese semiconductor firms potentially tied to Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, warning they could threaten the safety and reliability of components used in cars across the US and its allies.

The request marks the latest twist in the turmoil surrounding the Chinese-owned firm, which has become a flashpoint in broader disputes involving China, Europe, and the US, following months of internal conflicts, regulatory intervention and supply-chain disruption.

Chinese operations of the embattled Netherlands-based firm are increasingly bypassing its Dutch parent and turning towards China-based wafer suppliers – including Wuxi NCE Power, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics, Yangjie Technology and WingSkySemi – according to Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the US House Select Committee on the Communist Party.

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“Any shift to unvetted PRC suppliers would raise significant concerns regarding safety certification, quality control and the reliability of components embedded in critical vehicle systems,” he wrote in a letter seen by the Post.

The letter, sent on Tuesday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the head of the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Jeffrey Kessler, comes after Nexperia, owned by the Chinese company Wingtech, suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant, putting pressure on its Chinese operations to find alternatives.

Behind the Nexperia crisis and China-Netherlands tech tensions | China Future Tech webinar

Behind the Nexperia crisis and China-Netherlands tech tensions | China Future Tech webinar
Of the four companies, the most likely candidate would be WingSkySemi, also known as Shanghai Dingtai Jiangxin Technology, a sister company of Wingtech, according to an industry expert who spoke to the Post.
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