Trump Grants Nvidia and AMD China Export Licenses for Revenue Share

President Donald Trump authorized Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to resume exporting specific artificial intelligence chips to China in August 2025, reversing a ban implemented in April. Under the unprecedented agreement, the companies must pay the U.S. government 15% of the revenue generated from the sale of Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308 chips. The deal followed extensive lobbying by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who argued that restricting sales ceded the market to Chinese rivals like Huawei and undermined the American technology stack as the global standard.

U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, defended the move as a strategic effort to keep Chinese firms dependent on U.S. technology. Bessent characterized the arrangement as a beta test that could serve as a model for other industries to generate federal revenue for debt repayment. However, the deal faced sharp criticism from lawmakers and legal experts, who argued that monetizing national security licenses is a dangerous precedent and may violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on export taxes.

In China, the reaction was mixed. While private demand remained high, the government pressured domestic firms to avoid Nvidia chips, with state media alleging the H20 contained hardware backdoors for remote shutdown. Nvidia denied these claims, stating such features would be a gift to hackers. Trump further indicated he might allow the export of downgraded Blackwell chips if performance is reduced by 30% to 50% and a higher commission is paid.