China's customs authorities have decided to block imports of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips, even as U.S. President Donald Trump authorized exports of the chips to China. The move is interpreted as China's strategy to use the issue as a bargaining chip ahead of Trump's planned visit to China in April.
Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources, that "China's customs has decided not to allow imports of Nvidia's H200 chips." The source said, "An effective ban has been imposed, but this could change as the situation develops," adding that "it is unclear whether this is a ban or a temporary measure." Reuters noted that while the reason for the Chinese authorities' directive is not clear, it could be an attempt to pressure the United States before Trump visits China in April to meet with President Xi Jinping.
The Information, a U.S. technology news outlet, reported on Tuesday that the Chinese government had notified some technology companies of guidelines limiting H200 chip purchases to special cases such as university R&D laboratories. The outlet had also reported on the 7th that the Chinese government instructed some technology companies to suspend their H200 purchase plans.
On Wall Street, the news of China's H200 import restrictions sent technology stocks tumbling. Nvidia fell 1.44%, while Apple dropped 0.42%, Microsoft 2.40%, Amazon 2.45%, Alphabet 0.04%, Broadcom 4.15%, Meta 2.47%, Tesla 1.79%, and Walmart 0.27%. The Nasdaq Composite Index also declined 1.00% as a result.
Trump had announced on his social network Truth Social on the 8th of last month that he would allow Nvidia's H200 to be exported to China. He signed an executive order on Wednesday requiring 25% of sales proceeds from H200 exports to China to be returned to the U.S. Treasury. At the signing, Trump mentioned Nvidia's cutting-edge AI chip "Blackwell" and the upcoming "Rubin," emphasizing that "those two are the top ones, but this one (H200) is also a very good chip."
