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Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

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Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#171
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the jobs didn't disappear (yet). they grew from 13.000 in 2014 before midea took over to 15.000 in 2024. maybe they could have grown more in germany if midea hadn't taken over. who knows.

There are only about 3200 jobs in Augsburg (Germany), it's HQ? https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/KUKA-AG-436260/ne... Note: Looking for more information about the distribution of jobs atm ( countries). But it's hard to find. Any resources? But you're right. They still have jobs there, I didn't knew that. Note: This is about the law Germany created afterwards: https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/alerts/germa…

well, the real question is, are those 15.000 employees in germany? and were they in germany before? i just found the number on wikipedia, but now i looked up the 2024 report that says that 4600 are in germany, and 10600 are outside. in the 2014 report it says 4700 are in germany, 4500 rest of europe, 1700 north america, and 1100 elsewhere. so it doesn't look like any jobs were moved.

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And which firms in China are controlled by European entities?

European companies have had massive investments in China for decades now. Many people in the West have no idea what's going on in China. Western brands and investments are all over the place. Half the cars on the streets used to be European or American (and that has only recently changed, due to the rise of EVs). Yet Europeans and Americans often complain, "Why can't Western companies operate in China?" Excuse me?

The question was, emphasis mine: "which firms in China are controlled by European entities?"

Western brands have investments, but are required by law to have a local partner, that learns the trade and eventually copies the product:

China bars foreign companies from participating on their own in many industries, but in some of those industries foreign companies can participate only by forming a joint venture with a Chinese partner. [..] Partnering with a Chinese business can be tricky for various reasons, so understanding to what you are agreeing is absolutely critical. This is especially true because the Chinese law, the Chinese government, and the Chinese courts will be heavily biased in favor of your joint venture partner in any dispute between your company and your China joint venture partner’s company. - https://harris-sliwoski.com/chinalawblog/china-joint-venture...

> Half the cars on the streets used to be European or American

And more than half the phones in Europe or America are Asian - what's your point?

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#173
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most countries don’t do it, including the US. “Ready and willing” is quite the turn of phrase.

I've seen US numbers along 70-80% is imported. That leaves 20-30% domestic. Some of the REEs are 100% imported, so that's a different issue. But you seem to be implying that the US is 100% importing all REEs with no domestic production at all. That's not true. Yes, some production is slowed due to environmental issues. Some of it is a different nature along the lines of "why mine yours when you can buy someone else's…

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Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody is a fan of free access and capital markets, until a foreign entity purchases something of importance. It’s a continuation of recent trends and closing markets. Nobody in their sane mind would allow a company like ASML or the likes to be purchased by competitors. But the irony is that when a non-European entity were to do something like this, e.g. nationalize their oil or mining etc. industry or a firm, the…

USA is nationalizng Intel and under this administration more of the commie shit is coming :)

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Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#175
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That whole REE thing is more of a scare tactic than anything. REEs are really not all that rare, and the current imports of REEs into the US are worth around $200-250M annually. That is millions, not billions. It's actually a laughably small amount. The main reason that it's mostly China producing them may simply be due to the fact that the volumes are so small that building your own industry is not really worth it.

Dollar value is not the point. For the US MIC this matters a lot. There are not really any ready replacements for some vital weapons components at a time when US weapons stockpiles have been heavily depleted.

So, we’ll pay more and still get them. You think China is the only one that can game the system?

Who’s got the money?

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#176
post #97
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For context, the law that allows this all to happen was passed in 1952 and has never before been used. Interesting parallel here with China recently invoking - for the first time - their own legislation from the 50's to ban rare earth exports for military uses.

I always wondered how the large unified world of Roman Empire with running water and sewer fell apart (and backwards) into multitude of small feudal pieces with no technology to speak of for the 1000 years after Roman Empire. I think our modern civilization is probably at the beginning of similar process.

As I understand it, the Roman Empire was fuelled by expansion (stealing other people stuff), enabled by their exceptional military machine. Once they could not profitably expand any further, they were in trouble.

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody is a fan of free access and capital markets, until a foreign entity purchases something of importance. It’s a continuation of recent trends and closing markets. Nobody in their sane mind would allow a company like ASML or the likes to be purchased by competitors. But the irony is that when a non-European entity were to do something like this, e.g. nationalize their oil or mining etc. industry or a firm, the…

> But the irony is that when a non-European entity were to do something like this, e.g. nationalize their oil or mining etc. industry or a firm, the whole hell would brake loose. As far as I understand, Samsung, TSMC, and SMIC are all closely guarded by their respective governments. And China doesn't (didn't?) allow foreign companies to operate in China without a local partner at all. So I don't see the irony - every…

What about the suez canal or iranian oil fields

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://rareearthexchanges.com/best-rare-earth-mining-compan... Plenty of US companies ready and willing. They've finally gotten an administration that is of like mind on screw the environment and dig dig dig.

USA does not have the refining capacity which will take another 8 years to build out.

Wrong. We don’t need to build refining capacity. We just need to remind China that who’s the big dog, which we seem to be doing.

They’ll fall in line quickly enough.

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#179
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For context, the law that allows this all to happen was passed in 1952 and has never before been used. Interesting parallel here with China recently invoking - for the first time - their own legislation from the 50's to ban rare earth exports for military uses.

That whole REE thing is more of a scare tactic than anything. REEs are really not all that rare, and the current imports of REEs into the US are worth around $200-250M annually. That is millions, not billions. It's actually a laughably small amount. The main reason that it's mostly China producing them may simply be due to the fact that the volumes are so small that building your own industry is not really worth it.

Strategic REEs, i.e. heavyREE (Dysprosium, Terbium) are infact exceptionally rare, as in GEOLOGICALLY RARE. They are produced in China, because China (and Myanmar deposits controlled by China) are where ionic clays containing strategic HREEs can be economically extracted at scale. It's not just building altenrate HREE (empahsis on H) is not worth it, the technology simply doesn't exist to do so in other geologic deposits, i.e. all the har rock REE US+co has access to. The fact is PRC controls 90% of deposits and 99% percent of processing for elements that enable high temperature magnets, high power sensors, EW aka all the good shit that enables modern military capabilities... which was designed BECAUSE PRC commericialized process on specific geologic deposits that enabled commoditizing those materials. US built their miltary overmatch on material science and dirt that PRC controls and is nearly exclusively geopgraphically bound to PRC, with no short/medium term alternatives. PRC as monopoly supplier has much more complete ability to enforce export controls. This is just MIC specific, there's also stuff like dysprosium for highend capacitators where PRC has functionally 100% control, i.e. less performant alternative materials would effective regress performance by 10-25%, comparable to losing node size.

Re: Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

#180

I'm currently blazing through "Chip War" and can't put it down. This news is fascinating in that context. I highly recommend the book to anyone who hasn't read it.

I read it recently. I thought it was going to be a bit dry and heavy going. But it was a really good read.

TIL Shockley, one of the original pioneers of semi-conductors and Nobel prize winner, was a total shit. His staff hated him so much that the key players left and started a new company (Fairchild). He later became a eugenics crank.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley

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