China to limit access to Nvidia's H200 chips despite Trump export approval, FT reports

BEIJING is set to limit access to Nvidia's advanced H200 chips despite U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to allow the export of the technology to China, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.

AI Brief

China may allow restricted use of Nvidia's H200 chips amid US export bans and Trump's 25% tariff on approved sales.
Nvidia shares pared gains after reports, while analysts say impact is limited unless higher-tier chips are cleared for export.
Beijing accelerates domestic chip production to reduce reliance on US technology as global AI supply chain tensions grow.

Regulators in Beijing have been discussing ways to permit limited access to the H200, Nvidia's second-best generation of artificial intelligence chips, according to the report.

Such a move would add a hurdle to Nvidia and other top U.S. chipmakers' ability to address the China market, after Trump's Monday announcement appeared to settle a debate over whether these companies should keep their global lead by selling AI chips to China or withhold shipments.

Nvidia shares, which had risen as much as 2% in premarket trading, pared gains after the report and were last up about 0.6%. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

Beijing has been pushing back against domestic firms' use of U.S. technology, especially Nvidia chips, as it retaliates against American restrictions.

Earlier U.S. restrictions banned the sale of advanced AI processors to China, weighing on Nvidia's ability to grow in one of the world's largest markets for AI chips and development.

The export of the H200 chips will be permitted with a 25% fee levied on such sales, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said the approval alone may have limited impact on Nvidia's business in China unless it is allowed to export other chip lines such as Blackwell or Rubin.

Shares of AMD and Intel also pared gains and were last up about 0.3% in premarket trading. So far this year, Nvidia has gained nearly 40% compared with the S&P 500 benchmark index's 16.4% rise in the same period.