NVIDIA and AMD agree to pay 15% of semiconductor export sales to China to the US government

In order to secure export licenses to the Chinese market from the US government, NVIDIA and AMD agreed to pay the government 15% of sales of semiconductor exports to China.

Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US government

Nvidia AMD 15% of China chip sales revenues to US FT reports

The US government restricted the export of high-performance semiconductors to China, and NVIDIA exported a reduced-performance AI chip called the H20 to avoid the restrictions. However, in April 2025, the US government notified NVIDIA that a license was required for export of the H20.

Similarly, in April 2025, AMD had its sales permit withheld for exporting its AI chip 'MI308' to China, as it required a license.

In response to this situation, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang met with President Trump for several months, and finally, in July 2025, President Trump announced the withdrawal of the measures. The Department of Commerce also began issuing export licenses for H20.

In response to the reports, NVIDIA did not deny the agreement itself, but commented, 'We comply with the US government's rules for entering global markets. While shipments of H20 to China have been halted for several months, we hope to see export control rules that allow the US to compete globally with China.'

AMD has not commented on the matter.

Speaking to The Guardian, Ilaria Carozza, a senior fellow at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, asked, 'If national security restrictions can be circumvented by paying a fee to the government, how can the credibility of export controls be maintained?'