US opens case-by-case H200 exports to China; Beijing slow-walks purchases
Following Trump's December 2025 decision, the Commerce Department's BIS on 2026-01-15 shifted license review for Nvidia H200 and AMD MI325X exports to China from presumption of denial to case-by-case, under performance caps and conditions; Beijing initially discouraged purchases, then approved sales to select buyers in mid-March, but volumes stayed far below approvals.
Key facts
- Applies to chips under 21,000 TPP and 6,500 GB/s DRAM bandwidth thresholds
- Conditions: no reduction of supply to US customers, buyer export-compliance procedures, independent third-party testing in the US
- Blackwell-class chips remain restricted
- China reportedly found conditions too restrictive; mid-March 2026 approvals for select customers; demand for domestic chips (Huawei Ascend) prioritized
What happened
The policy partially reversed Biden-era export controls, allowing previous-generation Hopper chips to China, but China's own industrial policy limited uptake.
Why it matters
It shows export controls becoming a bargaining chip, and China doubling down on self-sufficiency (Ascend) even when US chips are available.
Changelog
- 2026-09-29: created
Related events
- Huawei sets Ascend 950 cluster cloud launch (China Sept 30, global Nov 30) and Ascend 960 roadmap ★★★
Sources (3)
- officialBIS: revised license review policy for semiconductors exported to China
- pressTom's Hardware: the Nvidia H200 export saga
- pressIntrol: BIS H200 export policy shift
id: 2026-01-15-us-h200-china-export-policy · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline