The U.S. Department of Commerce has cleared Nvidia to resume shipments of its H200 advanced AI chips to approved commercial customers in China, marking a shift in U.S. technology export policy. The authorization requires the government to collect 25% of revenue from these sales, and only H200 units that are approximately 18 months old will be eligible for export. Nvidia previously developed the lower-performance H20 chip specifically to comply with earlier restrictions targeting China.
The decision comes after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the matter awaited approval from President Donald Trump, who has now endorsed the move despite continued security concerns in Congress. Lawmakers recently introduced the SAFE Chips Act, which would block advanced AI chip shipments to China for 30 months, but the bill’s future is uncertain. The shift follows earlier export licensing rules and fluctuating policy over the past year, which strained the market and led China to increase reliance on domestic chips from Huawei and Alibaba. The approval adds a new geopolitical dimension to the AI hardware race as trade negotiations intensify.
