Report on April 9 suggested that the Trump administration in the United States had reversed the course on the export to China H20 China – the most advanced offer of Nvidia to stay outside of American export controls. According to some information, the change of heart of the White House followed President Donald Trump’s dinner with the CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang. The news surprised the industry, especially since the restriction of the sale of high -end fleas was part of Trump’s technological policy towards China.
But Reports on April 15 revealed that the Trump administration had actually said to Nvidia on April 9 That the H20 fleas would be subject to a license for China. Nvidia was told to expect license requirements “for the indefinite future”.
The administration, offering its usual response to what was probably a spur of the commentary on the president’s moment, awarded the April 9 report to the “false news”.
The ultimate decision to restrict China’s access to H20 fleas should not surprise. Since her return to the White House, the Trump administration had indicated that it would deepen technological restrictions in the context of Chinese-American competition. This included a decision to restrict H20 exports. The H20 fleas, as well as China’s access to a variety of other advanced chips purchased by third parties, may have contributed to the capacity of Chinese companies to innovate and bypass American limitations.
Two developments were particularly revealing. First of all, Huawei’s MATE60 phone in 2023 included An advanced chip 7 nm Produced by the Chinese state minimum wage. Second, quickly transmitting this yearDeepseek’s R1 The AI model has amazed the stakeholders of the AI because it is competitive (or even exceeds some references) the main models of American AI.
Shortly after the Deepseek revelations, the Bipartisian leaders of the selective committee of the Chamber on the CCP sent a letter to the National Security Advisor Michael Waltz Undering the White House to address the “gaps” in its regulation of semiconductors in the name of national security. The letter also called for “reasonable guarantees” to protect US American innovations against strategic opponents like China. They specifically highlighted two types of leaks: the above transparements by third parties (citing Singapore) and the purchases of fleas which are not currently outside the regulations, namely the Nvidia H20 chip.
In light of the strong bipartite concern, focused on strategic competition with China, many thought that the White House would investigate the H20 fleas. Indeed, Report the same day In January, the restricted committee leaders sent the letter revealed that there had been early discussions between the Trump team on the restriction of the H20 fleas.
Trump also appointed Landon Heid – a Chinese hawk and Former technological political advisor For the selective committee of the House on the PCC – direct the export administration at the Office of Industry and Security of the Commerce Department (BIS). The Trump administration has even taken measures to respond to some of the concerns of leaking third parties of the letter from the restricted committee, Ask Malaysian counterparts to surveillance Purchases of NVIDIA fleas. Overall, these signals had shaped the expectations of technological players for H20 restrictions that descend the pipeline.
The back and forth of the H20 chips reflects a sometimes improvised approach from Washington to technological policy in the middle of competition with China. The Trump Administration moves Cut the bis budget And rejected A Senior Director of Staff of the National Security Council (NSC) responsible for technology and national security (David Feith, who also had training in politics in Asia). These actions – which were not very excessive in the rejection of several other officials of the National Security Council and the general trend of Modification of regulations without comment or public opinion – are in contradiction with Washington’s objectives to protect national security and to surpass China in strategic high technology.
Talte on questions ranging from H20 commands expected to the Technological exemptions for prices (What the administration now maintains is just temporary) exacerbates uncertainty for companies trying to make long -term investment decisions while remaining competitive with Chinese and other companies.