USA allow export, but China does not let second-rate AI chips in

The People's Republic of China does not want to be fobbed off with second-rate AI chips. Beijing has instructed its customs officials not to allow Nvidia's H200 processors into the country.

This is reported by Reuters. The sale of the better chips from the Blackwell series (GB100, GB102, GB200) to China has been prohibited by US President Donald Trump. Until the beginning of this week, there was also a ban on the delivery of H200 processors and competing products such as AMD's Radeon Instinct MI325X.

The President justifies the export bans with concerns about national security. However, five weeks ago, Trump announced that he would drop these concerns in exchange for a 25 percent punitive tax. On Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce announced that from Thursday onwards, it would examine applications for export licenses for H200 and MI325X for sale to non-military entities in China. Suddenly, such exports "strengthen" the national security of the USA.

Export Conditions

This is not a general permit. Case-by-case reviews replace the general ban. A prerequisite for an export permit is, among other things, that the export does not restrict availability for US buyers, and that the Chinese buyer complies with re-export regulations and identifies all customers (KYC) who wish to use the processors online. Importers must disclose all users to the US authorities who are located in or have their company headquarters in the following countries: China (including Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela, and Belarus.

Furthermore, for every chip delivered to China (including Macau), the manufacturer must deliver at least one unit to a US end-user. In addition, random samples of chips manufactured in Taiwan must pass a security check in the USA. The new procedure applies to all circuits that remain below a certain computing power and whose DRAM bandwidth is below 6,500 gigabytes per second.

China Builds a Wall

But China is thwarting Trump's plans twice over. According to The Information, Beijing has instructed domestic organizations to use H200 chips only under special circumstances, for example, for research at universities. In addition, there is now the import ban. Nvidia shares fell slightly on Wednesday.

(ds)