Chipmakers will give U.S. 15% from china sales
By: Karen Freifeld
and Arsheeya Bajwa
Reuters
..... Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices have agreed to give the U.S. government 15% of revenue from sales to China of certain advanced computer chips, a U.S. official said on August 10, [2025] in an unusual move likely to faze American companies.
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The deal is extremely rare for the United States and marks President Donald Trump's latest intervention in corporate decision-making, after he pressured executives to invest in American manufacturing and demanded new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan resign over ties to Chinese companies.
..... Analysts said the levy may hit margins at the chipmakers and set a precedent for Washington to tax critical U.S. exports, potentially extending beyond semiconductors.
..... Trump's administration halted sales of Nvidia's H20 chips to China in April, [2025] but the company said in July [2025] it had won clearance to resume shipments and hoped to start deliveries soon.
..... The Commerce Department has started issuing licenses for the sale of H20 chips to China, another U.S. Official said on August 8. [2025] Both the U.S. officials declined to be named because details have not been made public.
..... The China curbs are expected to cost Nvidia and AMD billions of dollars in revenue, and successive U.S. administration have sought in recent years to limit Beijing's access to cutting-edge chips that could bolster China's military.
..... Washington does not feel the sale of H20 and equivalent chips compromises national security, said the first U. S. official.
..... The official did not know when or how the agreement with the chip companies would be implemented, but said the administration would be in compliance with the law.
..... The U.S. Constitution prohibits Congress from laying taxes and duties on articles exported from any state. The export Clause applies to taxes and duties, not user fees.
..... When asked if Nvidia had agreed to pay 15% of revenues to the United States, a company spokesperson said, "We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets."
..... "While we haven't shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide, the spokesperson added.
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A spokesperson for AMD said the United States approved its applications to export some AI processors to China, but did not directly address the revenue-sharing agreement and said the company's business adheres to all U.S. export controls.
..... The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment.
..... China's foreign ministry said the country has repeatedly stated its position on U.S. chip exports. The ministry has previously accused Washington of using technology and trade measures to "maliciously contain and supports China."
..... The Finical Times, which first reported the development, said the chip firms agreed to the arrangement as a condition for obtainment the export licenses for their semiconductors, including AMD's <MI308 chips.
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It added that the Trump administration had yet to determine how to use the money.
..... "The Chinese market is significant for both these companies, so even if they have to give up a bit of the money they would otherwise make, it looks like a logical move on paper," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said.
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Still, analysts and experts questioned the logic of resuming sales if the chip could pose a national security risk.
..... "Decisions on export licenses should be determined by national security considerations and the trade-offs of U.S. policy goals, not a revenue-creating possibility," said Martin Chozempa, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an independent research institution.
..... "What it end sup creating is an incentive to control things, to then extract payment, rather than controlling things because we're actually concerned about the risk to national security."
..... U.S. commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said in July [2025] the planned resumption of sales of the AI chips was part of U.S. negotiations with China to get rare earths and described the H20 ans Nvidoa's "fourth-best chip" in an interview with CNBC.
..... He said it was in U.S> interests for Chinese firms to use American technology, even if the most advanced chips remained barred, to keep them on a U.S. "tech stack."