Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, they say. Alas, the Dutch government has been a slow learner.
No matter, the Nexperia debacle has shown how some European states have been too compliant with the United States and defiant with China. They don’t seem to realise they are little better than pawns in US President Donald Trump’s America.
“Model allies that step up … will receive our special favour,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declared at the 2025 Reagan National Defence Forum in California over the weekend. “Allies that still fail to do their part for collective defence will face consequences.”
And if that’s not enough, the latest National Security Strategy from the White House is crystal clear about that.
So, when Washington and Beijing reached a one-year trade truce, the Netherlands was left holding the bag over Nexperia.
The Dutch government then had to backtrack and suspend a takeover of the Dutch-based but Chinese-owned chipmaker. Handing back control to the Chinese was described, at the time, as “a show of goodwill” by Dutch economy minister Vincent Karremans. Others might think it looked like capitulation.