Nvidia H200, export restart to China draws attention... U.S. government approves "undetermined"

The U.S. government is currently processing the export approval procedure for NVIDIA’s high-performance graphics processor (GPU) H200 to China, but the specific approval timeline has not yet been determined. Amid the ongoing U.S.-China tensions over semiconductor export controls, industry and market attention is focused on this matter.

On January 6 local time, at the CES 2026 International Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas, NVIDIA’s Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress stated that “the U.S. government is actively advancing the export approval process for H200,” but also noted that “the outcome remains uncertain.” This is not contradictory to recent remarks by President Donald Trump about restarting exports of H200 chips to China, but it implicitly suggests that the administrative procedures are still incomplete.

NVIDIA has been one of the most closely watched companies in the recent AI semiconductor market, with H200 being one of its flagship products. The product is a model from a generation earlier than NVIDIA’s current GPU architecture “Blackwell,” but it still offers excellent AI data processing performance and has substantial demand. CEO Jensen Huang specifically pointed out in a keynote speech the day before that the domestic market demand for this chip in China is very high.

In recent years, the U.S. has strengthened export controls on cutting-edge semiconductor technology to prevent its outflow to China. In this context, whether the H200 chip is included in the scope of export licenses could become a key variable in measuring the trajectory of U.S.-China technological competition. While the U.S. government maintains its strategy to preserve its competitive edge in advanced technology, how to balance corporate profitability with the actual needs of the Chinese market remains a critical issue.

On the other hand, NVIDIA stated that H200 supply capacity is sufficient, and even if exports to China are restarted, it will not affect supplies to other global customers. CFO Kress added that negotiations with customers planning to expand data centers after next year are underway, demonstrating confidence in the semiconductor supply chain.

This development indicates that, against the backdrop of prolonged U.S.-China technological hegemony competition, the U.S. government’s semiconductor export policies to China may undergo more nuanced coordination. Especially as the strategic value of core AI-related technologies continues to rise, this could have a significant impact on the future global supply flow of the semiconductor industry.