Nvidia As A Pawn in the Chip Dispute H200 in China: Clarifications, Blockades—A Confusing Situation

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The USA is allowing Nvidia to export H200 AI chips to China under certain conditions. China's government, however, intends to oppose the import of millions of chips. In the meantime, there is a de facto import ban. We shed light on the developments.

The situation surrounding the US export and Chinese import of Nvidia's second most powerful AI chip, the H200, is complex and increasingly confusing. The starting point was the following: The US government banned Nvidia from exporting the H200 to China in order to slow down the People's Republic's technological progress in this way too. Surprisingly, however, the export was allowed after all, subject to certain conditions.

Strict Export Rules for AI Accelerators from the US Government

According to several reports (including Tom's Hardware), these regulations stipulate that exports must be tested by independent laboratories with regard to TPP, memory bandwidth, interconnect bandwidth and the capacity of the DRAM modules supplied. In addition, exporters must demonstrate that domestic demand is fully met, that no U.S. orders will be delayed, that foundry capacity for advanced nodes serving U.S. customers will not be diverted, and that total shipments to the PRC will not exceed 50 percent of shipments of the same product to the United States.

Unsurprisingly, the use of H200 chips in Chinese hands for military purposes is excluded. "In addition, exporters must comply with strict regulations on customer identification and cloud usage, disclose end users, prevent unauthorized remote access and prohibit the transfer of model weights or trained algorithms to unauthorized parties, such as the Chinese military or intelligence agencies," reports Anton Shilov from Tom's Hardware. Incidentally, not only Nvidia's H200 is affected by the export regulations, but also AMD's Instinct MI325X and comparable products with lower performance.

Nvidia Contradicts Reuters Report on Advance Payments

Despite these export restrictions, interested Chinese customers are said to have ordered around two million of the chips in recent weeks. However, as it was not yet clear at the time whether the Chinese government would allow the import of the H200, anonymous sources told Reuters reporters that Nvidia would demand advance payment of the required goods as a form of security. This report, in turn, was contradicted by the US company. "We do not require upfront payment and would never ask customers to pay for products they do not receive," an Nvidia spokesperson explained in an email to Tom's Hardware.

H200 Allegedly Stopped at National Borders, De Facto Import Ban

Although the USA is now likely to deliver under certain conditions, China itself is pulling the emergency brake. According to Reuters reports from January 14, 2026, the chips are being held up at the country's borders (via The Asia Live). Chinese customs authorities have instructed border officials that the Nvidia chips cannot be imported into the country, according to reports. At the same time, executives from domestic tech companies were called to government meetings where they were clearly advised not to buy the H200 chips unless it was "deemed absolutely necessary". The language used at these meetings was perceived as a de facto ban on imports, although an official ban has not yet been issued. However, official import requirements are said to be in the works.

Based on this, it was then reported on January 17, 2026 by the Financial Times that suppliers of H200 components have temporarily paused their production. "Manufacturers of key H200 components, such as the circuit board, have temporarily halted production following measures to prevent chip shipments to China, according to two people familiar with the matter," it said. (sb)

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