Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sales to US government
Nvidia and AMD have struck a rare deal with the US government — they’ll pay 15% of revenue from chip sales to China in exchange for export licenses. This agreement lets them sell Nvidia’s H20 AI chips and AMD’s MI308 chips to the Chinese market, despite ongoing trade tensions.
The deal reportedly came after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with President Donald Trump, who initially demanded 20% but settled at 15%. Trump called the H20 “obsolete” and hinted he might allow sales of Nvidia’s far more powerful Blackwell chips in the future — but only for a higher fee.
While the arrangement could bring billions of dollars to the US, it faces hurdles. Chinese state media has warned that the H20 may have “backdoors” posing security risks, and hinted China might refuse the chips altogether. Nvidia has strongly denied these claims.
This move comes as US-China trade talks near a key deadline. Both countries have used chip technology as a bargaining tool, with Washington restricting high-end exports to protect national security, and Beijing accelerating efforts to make its own advanced chips.
China also wants the US to loosen restrictions on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips as part of broader negotiations ahead of a possible Trump–Xi summit. But with tech rivalry at the center of global trade politics, any lasting agreement remains uncertain.
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