President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States will allow Nvidia’s H200 processors, its second-best artificial intelligence chips, to be exported to China and collect a 25% fee on such sales. This decision appears to settle a debate on whether Nvidia and its rivals should maintain a global lead by selling to China or withhold the exports. However, it is uncertain whether this would lead to increased sales, since Beijing has told companies to avoid using U.S. technology.
Beijing is set to limit access to Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips despite Trump’s decision, according to a Financial Times report.
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Trump said in his post that he had informed President Xi Jinping of China about the move and that he “responded positively.” He also added that the U.S. commerce department was finalizing details of the arrangement, and the approach would also apply to other AI companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Intel.
Trump’s post said the fee to be paid to the U.S. government was “$25%,” and a White House official confirmed he meant 25%, higher than the 15% proposed in August.
“We will protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Nvidia’s U.S. Customers are already moving forward with their incredible, highly advanced Blackwell chips, and soon, Rubin, neither of which are part of this deal.”
This move comes as a change from Trump’s previous stance, where he said that Nvidia’s most advanced chips will be reserved for U.S. companies and kept out of China and other countries.
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The U.S. government had previously imposed strict export controls on sales of advanced AI chips to China, citing national-security concerns, while allowing certain older models to be exported under conditions that include sharing a portion of revenue (~15%) with the U.S. government.
Trump did not mention how many H200 chips would be authorized for shipment or what conditions might apply, only that exports would occur “under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security.” Officials view this as a compromise between sending Nvidia’s latest Blackwell chips to China, which Trump did not allow, and not sending any chips at all, which could potentially bolster Huawei’s efforts to sell AI chips in China.
“Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America,” Nvidia said in a statement.