US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 processors, the second-most powerful AI chips, in China, while the government will take a 25% commission on those sales.
US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 processors, the second-most powerful AI chips, in China, while the government will take a 25% commission on those sales.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he informed Chinese President Xi Jinping of the decision because Nvidia chips are under government scrutiny in China. According to Trump, Xi Jinping “responded positively,” Reuters reports .
He also noted that the US Department of Commerce is currently finalizing the details of the agreement, and this same principle will be extended to other companies that produce AI chips, including AMD and Intel.
In his tweet, Trump indicated that the U.S. government would receive 25% of the levy. A White House official confirmed that figure, which is higher than the 15% proposed in August.
“We will protect national security, create American jobs, and maintain the United States’ leadership in AI,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “NVIDIA’s American customers are already switching to their incredible, cutting-edge Blackwell chips, and soon Rubin, and neither of those chips is included in this deal.”
Trump did not specify how many H200 chips would be allowed to be exported or what conditions should be expected, but he did say that the shipments would be made “under conditions that maintain a high level of national security.”
In a statement, Nvidia said: "Providing the Commerce Department-verified H200 to commercial customers creates a balanced compromise that is beneficial to the United States."
The H200 chips are significantly superior to the H20s that Nvidia created specifically for China. However, according to Semafor, the company will only be able to export the H200s that were released about 18 months ago.
China hardliners in Washington worry that the supply of more advanced AI chips could allow Beijing to accelerate its development of military technology, the same concerns that first led the Biden administration to restrict such exports.
Pete Ricketts, a Republican senator from Nebraska, and Chris Coons, a Democratic senator from Delaware, introduced a bill on December 4 that would block the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China for more than two years.
The Safe and Appropriate Exports Act (SAFE) would require the Commerce Department to deny any export licenses for advanced artificial intelligence chips to China for 30 months. It’s unclear when lawmakers will vote on the proposed bill, especially now that the Trump administration has given the green light to the sale of the H200 chips.
