Key Points
- President Trump approved the sale of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China with a 25% fee.
- China is now reportedly planning to restrict domestic access to these same chips. This move is seen as retaliation in the ongoing U.S.-China tech war.
- The conflicting news created volatility for Nvidia’s stock, which rose and then fell.
- The decision casts doubt on U.S. chipmakers’ ability to sell advanced technology in China.
Just after the U.S. gave Nvidia the green light to sell powerful AI chips to China, Beijing is reportedly planning to slam on the brakes. New reports say Chinese regulators are looking for ways to limit access to Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, creating a new headache for the American tech giant.
The news comes as a surprise. On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that Nvidia could export its H200 chips, the company’s second-best AI processor, to China as long as it paid a 25% sales tax. This decision seemed to resolve a major debate within the U.S. about whether to sell high-end technology to a strategic rival. For Nvidia and other chipmakers, it looked like a major win, opening up the massive Chinese market.
However, China has been actively pushing its own companies to use domestic technology and reduce their reliance on American products. This move appears to be the latest shot in the ongoing tech trade war, in which Beijing is retaliating against earlier U.S. restrictions that banned the sale of other advanced chips.
The uncertainty immediately hit the stock market. Nvidia’s shares, which had jumped on the news of U.S. approval, quickly lost most of their gains after the report about China’s plans surfaced. Other chipmakers like AMD and Intel saw similar patterns.
While the U.S. opened a door for Nvidia, it seems Beijing may be trying to close it, leaving the future of American high-tech sales in China as cloudy as ever. Nvidia has not yet commented on the situation.
