Trump Authorizes Nvidia H200 AI Chip Exports to China

President Donald Trump announced in December 2025 that the United States would allow Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to export advanced H200 AI chips to approved commercial customers in China. The decision reverses the restrictive "small yard, high fence" policies of the Biden administration. Under the terms, the U.S. government collects a 25% revenue share—implemented as an import tax from Taiwan—while maintaining bans on the more advanced Blackwell and Rubin architectures to preserve a technological lead.

The move followed extensive lobbying by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who argued that keeping China dependent on U.S. hardware prevents Beijing from accelerating domestic alternatives like Huawei's Ascend processors. However, the policy drew sharp bipartisan criticism from U.S. lawmakers and AI experts. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei likened the sale to "selling nuclear weapons to North Korea," while Democratic senators warned the chips could enhance China's military lethality.

Implementation faced significant hurdles. While Chinese tech giants including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent placed massive orders exceeding current supply, the Chinese government initially hesitated, prioritizing domestic self-sufficiency. By February 2026, Beijing approved the purchase of over 400,000 chips. Simultaneously, shipments remained stalled by a U.S. inter-agency review involving the State, Defense, and Energy Departments. Conflict persists over "Know Your Customer" (KYC) requirements, which Nvidia argues must be commercially practical to avoid driving buyers toward foreign competitors.