China declines Nvidia H200 chips despite US clearance, Trump says

China Declines to Buy Nvidia H200 Chips Despite US Clearance, Trump Says

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from a state visit to Beijing, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that China has so far declined to purchase Nvidia H200 artificial intelligence chips, even though Washington has approved their sale. Trump said the issue “did come up” during his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping but that Beijing “chose not to” buy the chips because it “wants to try and develop their own” domestic alternatives.scmp

The remarks came a day after Reuters reported that the U.S. Commerce Department had cleared roughly 10 Chinese companies — including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com — to purchase H200 chips, with distributors Lenovo and Foxconn also approved to handle sales. Under the licensing terms, each approved customer may buy up to 75,000 chips, either directly from Nvidia or through authorized intermediaries. Yet not a single delivery has taken place.reuters

A Deal Stuck Between Two Capitals

The stalemate reflects a tangle of requirements on both sides. U.S. regulations established in January require Chinese buyers to demonstrate that the chips will not be used for military purposes and to implement security measures. Nvidia must also certify sufficient domestic inventory, and the chips must transit through U.S. territory for third-party testing before shipment — a mechanism tied to the 25 percent revenue share Trump negotiated for the U.S. government.cnbc

On the Chinese side, companies have pulled back from finalizing purchases after receiving guidance from Beijing, according to Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter. Chinese authorities fear that reliance on Nvidia chips could undermine efforts to build up domestic AI chip production.reuters

Semiconductor Controls Left Off the Table

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed on Friday that semiconductor export controls were not discussed during the bilateral summit meetings. “We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting,” he told Bloomberg TV, describing the decision to allow H200 imports as a “sovereign decision” for China. Greer added that between 15 and 17 U.S. CEOs who attended Thursday’s meeting with Xi raised concerns about their own companies, but chips were not part of the formal agenda.yahoo

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had joined Trump’s delegation at the last minute after a personal invitation from the president, raising expectations that the visit might unlock the stalled sales. For now, China’s push for self-sufficiency and Washington’s layered export conditions leave billions of dollars in potential chip sales in limbo — and Nvidia’s future in its once-critical Chinese market unresolved.cnbc