Department of Commerce approves Nvidia H200 chip exports to China

Advanced Nvidia AI chips can still go back to China.

The Commerce Department will allow Nvidia to ship H200 chips to China. as originally reported by Semaforto approved customers in the country. The US will be one 25% discount on this turnoverreports CNBC.

H200 chips are much more advanced than the H20 chips that Nvidia developed specifically for the Chinese market, but the company could only ship H200s that are about 18 months old, Semafor reports.

An Nvidia spokesperson told TechCrunch about the development: “We applaud President Trump’s decision to allow America’s chip industry to compete in support of good-paying jobs and manufacturing in America. Offering H200 to approved commercial customers, vetted by the Department of Commerce, strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America.”

The news report comes a week after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the decision on exporting these H200 chips to China was owned by President Donald Trump.

The decision to send the chips to China runs counter to Congress’ national security concerns.

Pete Ricketts, a Republican senator from Nebraska, and Chris Coons, a Democratic senator from Delaware, introduced a bill on December 4 that blocking the export of advanced AI chips to China for more than two years.

The Secure and Feasible Exports Act (SAFE) Chips Act would require the Commerce Department to deny any export license for advanced AI chips to China for 30 months. It’s unclear when lawmakers will vote on the proposed bill, especially now that the Trump administration has given the green light to sell the H200 chips.

While Congress has long been vocal about sending advanced AI chips to China – on both sides of the aisle – President Trump has wavered on whether to allow the export.

The Trump administration hit chip companies like Nvidia in April with licensing requirements to send their chips to China, before formally rescinding a Biden administration distribution rule that would have regulated AI chip exports in May. Over the summer, the U.S. government indicated that companies could start sending chips to China as long as the government gets one 15% discount on all incomewhen chips became a negotiating tool in trade negotiations with China.

However, at that time, the market for US-developed chips in China was tense.

In September, China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, banned domestic companies from buying Nvidia’s chips, forcing companies in the country to rely on less advanced domestic chips from Alibaba and Huawei.

On Monday, Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping “responded positively” to the latest H200 news in a Truth Social Post.

This story was updated on December 8 when the proposed decision was confirmed.