U.S. President Donald Trump has authorised Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 AI chips to selected customers in China under strict conditions.
Announcing the decision on social media on Monday, Trump said, “We will protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI.” The change also applies to other U.S. chipmakers like AMD.
This follows lobbying by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who recently urged Washington to ease export restrictions. Nvidia, the world’s leading chipmaker, had been barred from selling its most advanced processors to China amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Though Trump lifted the ban in July with a condition that Nvidia pay 15% of revenue from China to the U.S. government, Beijing ordered its tech firms to stop buying Nvidia’s chips for the Chinese market.
Nvidia welcomed the new policy, calling it “a thoughtful balance that is great for America.” The H200 chip is one generation behind Nvidia’s latest Blackwell GPU but is still highly prized for AI applications. Huang told the BBC in September that technology access should be global, including China.
The U.S. Department of Commerce will vet approved Chinese customers. Nvidia’s shares edged up after the announcement. Trump’s claim that “$25% [sic] will be paid to the United States” requires further clarification, as Congress may raise national security concerns.
Experts say allowing limited chip sales buys time for U.S.-China negotiations over rare earth minerals vital for electronics. Despite benefiting China’s tech sector, Beijing aims to reduce reliance on U.S. technology and has urged firms to favour domestic semiconductors.