President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he has reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to permit US chipmaker Nvidia to export advanced artificial intelligence processors to China, marking a major reversal of the Biden-era restrictions on high-end semiconductor sales.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the United States would allow Nvidia to ship its H200 AI chips to “approved customers in China, and other countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security.”
According to Trump, Xi “responded positively,” adding that “$25% will be paid to the United States of America,” though he did not specify how such payments would be structured.
The move represents a significant shift from the Biden administration’s strict export controls, which had blocked the sale of advanced AI chips to China due to concerns the technology could bolster Beijing’s military capabilities. Under those rules, companies such as Nvidia had been required to design lower-performance versions of their chips for the Chinese market.
Democrats sharply criticized Trump’s decision, calling it dangerous for US national security. Lawmakers warned that easing chip exports would give China access to hardware that could accelerate its military programs and cyber capabilities.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Trump of cutting a “backroom meeting” with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, noting the company’s donation to help build the East Wing ballroom at the White House. She said the policy would “turbocharge China’s military and undercut American technological leadership.”
Other Democratic senators issued a joint statement calling the agreement “a colossal economic and national security failure,” warning that Chinese access to such chips would provide “transformational technology to make its weapons more lethal, carry out more effective cyberattacks against American businesses and critical infrastructure and strengthen their economic and manufacturing sector.”
Nvidia welcomed the announcement, saying it would help support US jobs and manufacturing. “We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete to support high paying jobs and manufacturing in America,” a spokesperson told AFP. “Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America.”
Trump stressed that the decision does not include Nvidia’s most advanced processors — the Blackwell line and upcoming Rubin chips — which will remain restricted to the US market. The H200 chips permitted under the new policy are about 18 months behind Nvidia’s latest generation.
The Commerce Department is now working on implementation guidelines. Trump said the same export framework would apply to AMD, Intel “and other GREAT American Companies.”
The agreement comes amid ongoing US-China competition over leadership in artificial intelligence. Nvidia’s CEO had pushed the White House for months to ease the restrictions, despite broad resistance in Washington to expanding China’s access to cutting-edge AI chips.
Alex Stapp of the Washington-based Institute for Progress described the policy as a “massive own goal,” noting that the H200 is “6x more powerful than the H20, which was previously the most powerful chip approved for export.”
