President Donald Trump has allowed Nvidia to ship its H200 artificial intelligence chip to China in exchange for a 25% share of sales, a move that represents a major lobbying victory for the world’s most valuable company.
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The move could allow Nvidia to recoup billions of dollars in lost business in a key global market.
The decision was announced by Trump in a message on his Truth Social network, ending weeks of deliberations with his advisers over whether to grant permission to send the H200 to China.
Trump said he informed Chinese President Xi Jinping of the measure and that Xi responded favorably. He added that sales would be limited to “approved customers” and that chipmakers like Intel and AMD would also be eligible.
“We will protect national security, create American jobs, and maintain American leadership in AI,” Trump said in his message. “NVIDIA’s U.S. customers are already moving forward with their incredible, highly advanced Blackwell and soon Rubin chips, neither of which are part of this deal,” he said, referring to Nvidia’s most advanced chip lines.
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Allowing the H200 to be exported is seen as a compromise to Nvidia’s previous attempt to sell its more advanced Blackwell chips to Chinese customers, a person familiar with the matter said before the announcement.
When contacted, the Commerce Department and Nvidia did not immediately comment on Trump’s message.
A previous deal touted by Donald Trump — under which Nvidia and AMD would pay a percentage of their revenue in China on AI chips sold there — did not result in payments because no regulations were implemented to make it legal. Beijing’s opposition to these exports, and the resulting lack of demand from Chinese customers, has made the issue moot.
Allowing sales of the H200 to China represents a victory for Nvidia in its bid to convince Trump and Congress to ease export controls that have prevented the company from selling its AI chips in the world’s second-largest economy.
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Huang has built a close relationship with Trump since the November 2024 election and has used those ties to argue that restrictions only strengthen China’s national champions like Huawei.
After meeting with Trump on Wednesday, Huang expressed uncertainty over whether China would accept Nvidia’s H200 chips if the United States eased restrictions on processor sales. “We don’t know. We have no idea,” Huang said in a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over export controls. “We can’t degrade the chips we sell to China – they won’t accept it.”
In August, Nvidia won approval to sell its less powerful H20 chip, designed to be just below existing export limits. Despite this, China ordered potential domestic customers to reject the product and rely on processors made by Chinese companies, completely blocking the American company’s access to the country’s data center market.
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