WASHINGTON, USA — President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will allow Nvidia, the world’s most valuable chipmaker and a central player in the global artificial intelligence race, to sell its advanced H200 chips to what he described as “approved customers” in China, marking a significant shift in Washington’s approach to technology restrictions on Beijing.
“We will protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI,” Trump said in a post on social media on Monday, December 9, 2025.
The decision, which will also apply to other American chip manufacturers such as AMD, follows sustained lobbying by Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, who travelled to Washington last week to press the company’s case.
Nvidia has spent recent months at the centre of an escalating geopolitical struggle between the United States and China over access to advanced semiconductor technology.
The H200 chip is a generation behind Nvidia’s Blackwell processor, which is widely regarded as the most advanced artificial intelligence semiconductor currently available.
Until now, both had been subject to strict export controls aimed at limiting China’s access to high-performance computing power with potential military applications.
Trump first reversed the sweeping ban on Nvidia’s advanced chip sales to China in July but attached a controversial condition requiring the company to pay 15 per cent of its Chinese revenues to the United States government.
On Monday, December 9, 2025, Trump appeared to reference that arrangement again, writing that “$25% [sic] will be paid to the United States of America”, prompting questions about whether the financial terms have changed.
The White House has not yet clarified the details of the revenue-sharing requirement.
The BBC said it had reached out to the administration for clarification on the structure of the deal, which is expected to face stiff opposition from national security hardliners in Congress.
Nvidia responded swiftly with public approval of the move.
“We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high paying jobs and manufacturing in America,” the company said in a statement provided to BBC News.
It added that “offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America”.
The company’s shares edged higher following the announcement.
China had previously reacted sharply to the earlier restrictions and revenue-sharing proposal.
After Trump’s July decision, Beijing reportedly directed Chinese technology firms to stop buying Nvidia chips designed specifically for the Chinese market.
The Chinese government has also been accelerating efforts to reduce dependence on American semiconductors by promoting domestically produced alternatives.
Huang has repeatedly argued that isolating China from advanced computing technology could ultimately weaken the global technology ecosystem.
Speaking to the BBC in September, he said the United States needed “to make sure that people can access this technology from all over the world, including China”.
He also warned that China, which has rapidly built its own chip production infrastructure, was closing the gap with the United States.
Analysts say Monday’s decision may be driven as much by supply chain diplomacy as by commercial pressure.
Alex Capri of the National University of Singapore said allowing limited access to H200 chips “buys time” for Washington to negotiate with Beijing over rare earth minerals and prevent serious disruptions to global manufacturing.
China controls much of the world’s rare earth processing capacity, which is critical to the production of electronics, vehicles and defence equipment.
Although increased access to Nvidia’s H200 chips is likely to provide a boost to parts of China’s technology sector, Capri said Beijing would continue to pursue its long-term goal of technological self-sufficiency.
He noted that Chinese authorities had previously encouraged firms to reject Nvidia’s older H20 chips in favour of domestically produced semiconductors.
Security analysts remain deeply concerned about the military implications of advanced chip exports. Researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology have said that China’s People’s Liberation Army is already using advanced chips designed by US firms to develop AI-enabled military systems.
“By making it easier for the Chinese to access these high-quality AI chips, you enable China to more easily use and deploy AI systems for military applications,” said Cole McFaul, a senior research analyst at the centre.
“They want to harness advanced chips for battlefield advantage.”
