The Trump administration has officially authorized sales of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China, approving exports of the company’s second most powerful processors despite notable resistance from anti-China advocates in Washington.
Under the new regulations, shipments to China will undergo evaluation by an independent testing party to verify the chips’ AI performance. Additionally, Chinese buyers are limited to receiving no more than half the volume allocated to U.S. customers.
Furthermore, Nvidia is required to certify that sufficient H200 chip inventory remains available for American use, while prospective Chinese clients must prove they have adequate security protocols in place and guarantee the chips will not be deployed for military applications.
Last month, President Donald Trump stated the decision to permit these chip sales on the condition that a 25% levy is paid to the U.S. government. The move has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers across the political spectrum who worry the deal could accelerate China’s artificial intelligence progress and diminish U.S. dominance in the sector.
However, the Trump administration, led by White House AI advisor David Sacks, argues that permitting access to cutting-edge chips may slow Chinese efforts—especially by sanctioned firms like Huawei—to develop alternatives to Nvidia’s and AMD’s high-end artificial intelligence hardware.
According to a Reuters report last month, Chinese technology firms have already placed orders for over two million H200 units, which are priced at about $27,000 each—a figure far surpassing Nvidia’s current stockpile of 700,000 chips.
However, Nvidia still faces challenges from the Chinese government. According to Reuters’ report, cited from sources familiar with the situation, only few technology companies will be permitted to purchase H200 AI chips and they can only use it for specific purposes.
