Trump clears way for Nvidia H200 sales to China, 25% surcharge

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that his administration will approve China sales of Nvidia‘s H200 chip for artificial intelligence, but the U.S. government will take 25% of sales, one day after formal regulations were published by the U.S. government.

Unlike Nvidia’s previous China-targeted chip, the H20, the H200 is a version of the company’s Hopper generation that is also sold in the U.S. and in other markets. The H200 was not specifically designed and slowed down for export.

Trump pointed out in remarks on Wednesday that the H200’s performance has been exceeded by two generations of Nvidia chips currently in production, naming Nvidia’s Blackwell and Rubin AI chips.

“It’s not the highest level, but it’s a pretty good level, and China wants them and other people want them and we’re going to be making 25% on the sale of those chips, basically,” Trump said.

Trump initially announced the approval of H200 chips and the 25% government cut a month ago.

Previously, Nvidia said the Chinese market could be worth $50 billion per year.

“We’re allowing them to do it, but the United States is getting 25% of the chips, in terms of the dollar value,” Trump said.

In a filing published on Tuesday, the Department of Commerce said that the rule change had some requirements, including that the exporter certifies that there is sufficient supply of the H200 chips in the U.S., and that the chips won’t take global foundry capacity needed for more advanced AI chips headed for the U.S.

The government said that the customers for the chips would have to have sufficient security procedures, and that the chips will need to undergo independent, third-party testing in the U.S. to confirm their specifications before shipping out.

Shipments of the chips to China would be capped at 50% the total product shipped to U.S. customers. The filing also mentions AMD‘s MI325X chip.

“We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high paying jobs and manufacturing in America,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement. “Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America.”

“The Administration’s critics are unintentionally promoting the interests of foreign competitors on U.S. entity lists — America should always want its industry to compete for vetted and approved commercial business, supporting real jobs for real Americans,” the spokesperson continued.

Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters that the company is seeing “very high” interest in its H200 chip from China customers, and that the company had started producing the chip again.

″We’ve fired up our supply chain, and H200s are flowing through the line,” Huang said at a press conference at the CES conference…