A feared chip shortage in the auto industry looks to have been averted, at least for now.

Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.

I'm William Lee Adams. Good morning.

China has lifted export controls on computer chips that are vital to car production.

Carmakers Volvo, VW, Ford, and Honda had all warned they could face

severe supply chain disruption if the ban wasn't overturned. China has also paused an export ban to

the U.S. of some materials that are crucial in the semiconductor industry and suspended port fees

for American ships. The moves mark an easing of trade tensions between Beijing and Washington

after President's Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed in October to reduce tariffs on each other

and pause other measures for a year. The Chinese government had been blocking the export of

finished chips in a row with the Dutch government after they took control of Nexperia, citing

concerns over its Chinese owner.

David Bailey is a professor at Birmingham University's business school in the UK and a motor industry specialist.

China clearly has control over the supply of finished chips from China.

And remember this company, Nexperia makes huge numbers of these,

100 billion a year.

They are not the most advanced chips,

but they go into everything. It's literally chips with everything when it comes to the auto industry these days. And the firm represents something like 50% of the supply used by the European

auto industry. So China's in a position where it can turn this on and turn this off. I think

Honda already shut

down a plant in Mexico, given the lack of chips. VW said it was literally a few days away from

running out. So whether this is fast enough to get the chips to Europe to keep full production

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