Trump to allow Nvidia to sell H200 AI chips to China

Dec. 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will allow tech giant Nvidia to sell some Artificial Intelligence chips to China, with a 25% cut for the United States, as he reversed his stance on a previous sticking point in both countries’ ongoing trade war.

Trump said he had informed President Xi Jinping of China that Nvidia would begin shipping its H200 products to approved customers “in China and other countries” under conditions that “allow for continued strong national security.”

Trump wrote Monday in a post on Truth Social that Xi had agreed, and that 25% would be paid to the United States.

“This policy will support American jobs, strengthen U.S. manufacturing and benefit American taxpayers,” Trump said, adding that while the Blackwell chip is not part of the plan, the deal would apply to other U.S. companies.

“The same approach will apply to AMD, Intel and other great American companies,” he added. “The Department of Commerce is finalizing the details.”

Nvidia and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, both based in Santa Clara, Calif., signed a deal in August to pay 15% of their sales to China to the U.S. Treasury in exchange for export licenses to ship their advanced H20 and MI308 semiconductors.

The Trump administration has already begun issuing licenses to both companies to supply AI chips to China.

Last month, Nvidia posted record revenue and a strong profit for the third quarter. The leading chipmaker said its sales grew 62% in one year to $57 billion through October.

Trump had banned Nvidia from exporting its H20 chip to China earlier this year, despite Nvidia having developed the chip specifically for the Chinese market.

“We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets,” Nvidia said in August. “While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide.”

Last week, Trump met with Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang, who also gathered with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress as some expressed concerns about selling American AI chips to China.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., refused to meet with Huang, saying he did not consider the Nvidia CEO to be “an objective, credible source about whether we should be selling chips to China.”

On Monday, Nvidia issued a statement in response to Trump’s decision, calling it “great for America.”

“We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high-paying jobs and manufacturing in America,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement.

“Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America.”