Hyperdrive

Carmakers Push to Secure Chips as China Trade Spat Escalates

Silicon semiconductor wafers pass through a wet chemical cleaning machine at a Nexperia plant.

Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Automakers are bracing for fresh potential chip disruption, with China’s retaliatory export controls on an obscure Dutch supplier threatening to set off a chain reaction that could halt production lines.

Manufacturers in Europe are holding urgent meetings to fend off potential outages that could come within a month, according to people familiar with the matter.