Trump Reverses Course on Chip Ban: Nvidia Can Sell to China With a Revenue Cut to the U.S.
Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
Source
bbc.com
Published
Dec 9, 2025
Category
Hardware & Chips
Executive summary
During the US-China tensions, US President Donald Trump banned the sale of chips from artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia to Beijing. He later lifted this ban on one condition: that Nvidia pay 15% of its Chinese revenue to the US. Now, Trump has said that Nvidia can only sell its chips to commercial customers that have been reviewed and approved by the US Department of Commerce. This situation will also apply to other chip-producing companies like AMD.
Analyst insight
Trump's initial refusal to approve NVidia's advanced AI chips and subsequent reversal appear to be driven by economic and geopolitical interests. The US economy suffered billions of dollars in losses when chip giants lost the Chinese market. The US quickly realized the long-term damage of closing its doors to China. The US is creating economic pressure by imposing an invisible 15% tax. The U.S.'s main concern is the military use of chips, so it only allows sales to “approved customers.” The U.S. wants to boost its economy while also limiting China's military power.
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