The auto industry is panicking about another potential chip shortage

year there were production stoppages resulting from China’s stranglehold on rare-earth magnets, a disruption in aluminum supplies after a fire and President Trump’s costly tariffs.

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Automakers have been monitoring a parallel threat in recent days over China’s rare-earth minerals, after the country tightened exports and increased tension with the U.S. Toyota heard last week from some suppliers that Chinese facilities were unable to ship products, a person familiar with the situation said. Toyota initially thought the delay was related to China's limits on rare-earth minerals, but later found out it was tied to the Nexperia situation, the person said.

Toyota is actively assessing the situation and studying alternative sources of supply, the company said.

The extraordinary dispute over Nexperia resulted from the Dutch government's decision late last month to seize control of it from China's Wingtech Technology, which is on a U.S. trade blacklist, citing a need to keep Europe from losing “technological knowledge and capabilities” necessary for its economic security.

In early October, the Chinese government ordered Wingtech to suspend Nexperia’s exports from China.