US Democrat Senators Slam Trump’s Approval of Nvidia H200 Chip Sales to China

Washington's tech cold war just got hotter—and the political theater is in full swing.

The Geopolitical Chessboard

A decision to greenlight advanced AI chip exports has ignited a firestorm on Capitol Hill. Critics argue it hands a strategic rival the very tools needed to leapfrog U.S. technological dominance. The move bypasses years of carefully constructed export controls, slicing through red tape with a single signature.

The Silicon Dilemma

For the chipmaking giant, it's a multi-billion-dollar dilemma solved. The approval cuts a direct path to a massive, hungry market, sidestepping the quagmire of regulatory uncertainty. Shareholders might cheer the quarterly boost, even as long-term strategic risks quietly mount on the balance sheet.

Market calculations, it seems, still trump national security concerns in some ledgers—proving once again that in global finance, the only permanent ideology is profit.

The fallout is a masterclass in political friction, where technology, trade, and tension collide. One side sees a dangerous concession; the other, a pragmatic deal. The chips are down, and the stakes for the future of AI supremacy have never been clearer.

Senators press Trump as export-control fight grows

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Elissa Slotkin, Chuck Schumer, Tim Kaine, Michael Bennet, Andy Kim, and RON Wyden said the decision “gives away critical national security controls” and could boost China’s military programs.

They reminded Lutnick that Nvidia had been blocked from selling any advanced chips to China since April, when the administration tightened rules on high-end hardware. They also noted that Trump had approved a smaller deal in August for Nvidia’s H20 chip.

Nvidia agreed then to give the government 15% of sales, but the plan collapsed when China told buyers not to purchase the downgraded chip.

Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang later pushed for approval to sell a weaker Blackwell model in China. Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, warned that it created too much risk.

Trump said no. But the administration changed position this week and allowed H200 exports, even though the chip is almost six times stronger than the H20 China rejected months ago.

The senators wrote that the Justice Department’s new smuggling cases show how valuable the H200 is, since prosecutors described Nvidia’s chips as the “building blocks of AI superiority” and essential for “modern military applications.”

They said giving China legal access hurts U.S. startups, labs, and universities during a period when advanced chips remain scarce in America.

Agencies fire back as Nvidia defends its position

The Commerce Department dismissed the senators’ warnings. A spokesman said, “These same Democrats were silent when the last administration sold out our national security to the world,” and added that Lutnick supports strict rules on advanced technology.

The White House also weighed in. Spokesman Kush Desai said there is “an obvious difference between chips being illegally smuggled to unknown buyers without regulatory oversight and chips being exported following national security inspections to specifically designated end users.”

Nvidia defended the approval, saying that Trump’s decision “strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America” and argued that China already accelerated its own chip development after the earlier U.S. ban.

Nvidia also said it is managing its “supply chain to ensure that licensed sales of the H200 to authorized customers in China will have no impact” on U.S. supply.

The senators also flagged what they called the “appearance of corruption and insider access,” pointing to Nvidia’s recent “charm offensive” in Washington. They noted Huang’s private meetings with Trump and Nvidia’s donation to the White House ballroom construction fund.

The letter marks the second Senate push in weeks aimed at blocking Nvidia’s plans to restart China sales. Nvidia has told investors that renewed access to the Chinese market could bring tens of billions of dollars in yearly revenue.

Last week, a bipartisan group led by Tom Cotton introduced the Safe Chips Act, which WOULD force the Commerce Department to deny export licenses for 30 months for certain advanced chips going to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

Get $50 free to trade crypto when you sign up to Bybit now