Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares fell roughly 2% in early trading Wednesday, leading a broader tech sell-off after reports emerged that Beijing has moved to effectively block the entry of the company’s H200 AI chips, despite recent export clearances from Washington.
The decline outpaced the 1% dip in the Nasdaq Composite, reflecting investor anxiety over a deepening "tit-for-tat" trade war.
While the Trump administration formally approved H200 exports to China just yesterday—under the condition that the U.S. government receives a 25% cut of the sales—Chinese authorities reportedly instructed customs agents this morning to deny the chips entry.
The reported ban by China’s General Administration of Customs follows months of volatile negotiations.
In late 2025, President Trump reversed earlier bans on Nvidia's lower-end chips in exchange for a 15% fee, a "transactional" approach he expanded to 25% for the high-performance H200 in December.
However, Beijing appears to have reached its limit with the U.S. government’s "kickback" demands.
According to reports from Reuters and The Information, Chinese officials have not only blocked customs clearance but have also summoned domestic tech giants—including Alibaba and Tencent—to meetings, "strongly suggesting" they pivot to domestic alternatives like Huawei’s Ascend 910C.