In December of last year, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang reached a landmark agreement with US President Donald Trump, reigniting external hopes for the company's imminent return to what Huang described as a Chinese market with an annual potential of $50 billion. However, citing informed sources, the Financial Times reported on February 4th that, despite Trump's approval for the exports, the final authorization for NVIDIA's sales of its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China remains undecided. Nearly two months have passed, and the US government is still conducting a so-called "national security review" before it will issue licenses to Chinese clients.
In January of this year, the US Department of Commerce issued a regulation that relaxed restrictions on exporting H200 chips to China but required the US Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy to review all licenses. One source indicated that the Commerce Department has completed its analysis and evaluation, but several individuals familiar with the interagency discussions disclosed that the State Department is advocating for more stringent restrictions, claiming this is to "make it more difficult for China to use H200 chips to harm US national security."
This stance from the State Department has caused frustration for NVIDIA. "The State Department is making things very difficult," one informed source stated. Concurrently, sources also revealed that Chinese clients have not placed orders for NVIDIA's H200 chips while it remains unclear whether licenses will be granted and what conditions they might entail.
On April 30, 2025, Jensen Huang attended an event at the White House and shook hands with US President Donald Trump. On December 8th of the previous year, President Trump announced that he would allow NVIDIA to export its H200 AI chips to China. However, he also stated that the decision came with conditions, including safeguards for what the US terms "national security," and that the US government would receive a 25% share, with the Commerce Department finalizing the agreement details. Subsequently, NVIDIA directed its supply chain to increase production of the H200 chip in anticipation of what it projected would be "very high demand" from Chinese customers.
Now, with the Financial Times reporting that the approval process for H200 chip exports to China has reached a stalemate, including delays in approval from both the Chinese and American sides, some suppliers have paused production of key components for the H200 chip. The report mentioned that the agreement reached between NVIDIA and the Trump administration in December also applies to other AI chip companies, such as AMD and Intel. These standards include requiring that half of all shipments from the relevant companies must go to US customers, and that the chips must be reviewed by third-party testing laboratories located in the United States, along with reporting obligations regarding the chips' end-use.
Beyond these preliminary restrictions, informed sources said many other factors are under consideration, including whether Chinese companies can assure NVIDIA that their chips will not be used to serve the Chinese military. Chris McGuire, a senior fellow for China and emerging technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a former "Senior Export Control Specialist" at the US State Department, asserted, "If the State Department is raising concerns about the 'national security implications' of approving these licenses, it suggests there are indeed significant risks, and it would be irresponsible to ignore those concerns."
One person familiar with the State Department's position noted that the process is more complex than a normal license evaluation because Trump adopted a "novel approach"—agreeing to issue the licenses first, then tasking the team with setting the conditions. According to a previous Bloomberg report, Jensen Huang revealed on January 29th that NVIDIA had not yet received orders from Chinese customers for the H200 chip, as China was still deciding whether to allow the import of NVIDIA's product components. "I hope China will allow NVIDIA to sell the H200 chip," he told reporters, "The decision is now in China's hands, they are still considering, and we are waiting patiently."
Huang stated that he had met with customers and officials during a visit in the preceding days but had not received any new orders for the H200 chip. He added that this chip is "very well-suited" for the Chinese market and that his customers are very keen on the H200. He also said the US export license for the H200 chip was in the final stages of approval. At a regular Foreign Ministry press conference on January 29th, an AFP reporter, citing relevant reports, asked, "China has approved the import of the first batch of NVIDIA's H200 artificial intelligence chips. Can the Foreign Ministry confirm this? What signal does this move send for China-US relations?" In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, "We have responded to related questions on multiple occasions. For specific questions, we suggest you direct your inquiries to the competent Chinese authorities."
This article is an exclusive稿件的 from Guancha.cn and may not be reproduced without authorization.
Comments