Nvidia Extends Monthly Gains to 15% After U.S. Approves H200 Chip Shipments to China
Nvidia stock surged on U.S. approval for H200 AI chip sales to 10 Chinese companies, but Beijing's resistance stalls actual shipments.
Objective Facts
Nvidia shares climbed on May 14, 2026, after reports showed that the U.S. approved sales of Nvidia's H200 AI chips to about 10 Chinese companies. The rally started after Reuters reported that Chinese firms such as Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com received approval to purchase Nvidia's H200 processors. Lenovo and Foxconn also reportedly gained authorization as distributors. As of Wednesday, the stock had risen for six straight sessions, for a total of 15%. However, despite the approvals, no H200 chips have been delivered to Chinese buyers to date. Despite U.S. approval, deals have stalled, as Chinese firms pulled back after guidance from Beijing. In Beijing, pressure is mounting to block or tightly vet the orders. Regional coverage emphasizes that China is strategically blocking purchases to protect its domestic chipmakers, particularly Huawei.
Left-Leaning Perspective
Left-leaning voices emphasized national security risks. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrats on panels that oversee US export control programs, warned that the Trump administration's first approval for exports of Nvidia Corp.'s H200 AI chips to China risks harming US national security. Representative Gregory Meeks wrote that 'Approving licenses for items like NVIDIA's H200 chips, which the Justice Department recently described as 'integral to modern military applications,' would be deeply at odds with the policy that Congress articulated in ECRA.' The Council on Foreign Relations critiqued the policy shift as a dramatic reversal of export-control posture from Trump's first term. The sale of advanced Nvidia H200 AI chips to approved customers in China does more than signal policy inconsistency: It undermines much of the original purpose of the restrictions. By re-opening the flow of powerful computing hardware to China, Washington risks supplying exactly the tools it once tried to withhold. Chris McGuire, a senior fellow for emerging technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington, is a critic of Nvidia's push to relax chip export policies. In a post on X, he wrote: 'It would triple the amount of AI computing power that China adds next year – before taking into account illegal smuggling.' Left-leaning coverage emphasized that actual shipments remain blocked by Beijing, which suggests the approval may be performative. One analyst quoted in CNBC stated: 'It is remarkable that President Trump keeps getting convinced to put Nvidia's interest ahead of America's.' This framing highlights concern that corporate lobbying—rather than national security calculations—is driving policy.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Right-leaning or Trump-aligned voices portrayed the approval as pragmatic strategy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the move 'pragmatic,' arguing that while 'we're not selling our latest greatest chips to China, we can deprive Huawei of having this giant market share.' This framing suggested that controlled exports to Nvidia help the U.S. maintain competitive dominance while limiting Chinese competitors. Trump pointed out in remarks on Wednesday that the H200's performance has been exceeded by two generations of Nvidia chips currently in production, naming Nvidia's Blackwell and Rubin AI chips. 'It's not the highest level, but it's a pretty good level, and China wants them and other people want them and we're going to be making 25% on the sale of those chips, basically,' Trump said. This argument emphasized that the U.S. retains superior technology while extracting financial benefit. Right-leaning perspectives also noted that Beijing's refusal to actually purchase the chips undermines the narrative that the U.S. is "giving away" technology. The fact that no shipments have occurred suggests Chinese resistance, not American weakness. Some right-aligned analysts argued this proves Nvidia still needs China more than China needs Nvidia's older-generation H200—contrary to claims that the policy favors corporate interests over national security.
Deep Dive
The core story angle is not simply that Nvidia gained approval for H200 sales to China—it's that U.S. approval has not translated into actual shipments because Beijing is actively blocking purchases. This reveals a deeper strategic divergence: Washington approved the sale primarily to serve Nvidia's commercial interests and extract revenue (25%), while Beijing is using the regulatory stall as leverage in its own AI self-sufficiency campaign. The policy context matters. Trump's December 2025 announcement represented a dramatic reversal of the export-control posture he helped build in his first term, effectively undoing his earlier strategy to restrict China's AI development. Democrats and national security experts argue this shift prioritizes corporate interests over strategic advantage. Trump's Commerce Secretary counters that selling older-generation chips (the H200, not the cutting-edge Blackwell) while capturing 25% of sales maintains U.S. dominance while funding government revenue. The critical oversight: China is not buying, despite months of approval. Beijing's hesitation reflects a strategic calculation, as it fears imports could weaken a push to develop homegrown AI chips. While China's AI chips still lag Nvidia, firms like DeepSeek increasingly tout their reliance on domestic chips including those developed by Huawei. This means the Nvidia approval has become a geopolitical signal without commercial substance. What happens next depends on whether Jensen Huang's presence at the Trump-Xi summit unlocks Chinese buying, or whether Beijing continues its strategic pivot toward domestic alternatives. The stock market reaction (15% monthly gain) reflects investor optimism about future shipments, but that optimism may exceed the probability of actual Chinese purchases given the political headwinds on both sides.
Regional Perspective
Despite U.S. approval, deals have stalled, as Chinese firms pulled back after guidance from Beijing, and pressure is mounting to block or tightly vet the orders. Chinese regional outlets and analysts emphasize that Beijing is actively managing the stall. The Financial Times report claims that Beijing has instructed Chinese tech companies to limit their use of Nvidia chips to their overseas operations, while supporting domestic manufacturing. This reveals a government-directed strategy, not market hesitation. China's regional media and think tanks have framed the H200 controversy as part of a larger technological sovereignty struggle. The Fudan Development Institute published a research report stating that Trump's approval of H200 exports was primarily a strategy to help Nvidia preserve its dominance in the AI chip market, rather than a sign that Washington was easing its technological blockade against China. Some Chinese commentators said banning Nvidia's hardware could provide more market space for Huawei Technologies' Ascend AI chips. A Guangdong-based columnist wrote: 'China's ban on Nvidia's H200 chips seems to be a single issue, but it reflects the broader technology competition.' This perspective treats Beijing's resistance as strategic leverage in the AI race, not merely commercial caution. Tencent suggested that production of Chinese homegrown chips could ramp up this year, while Alibaba discussed how it is expanding its self-developed semiconductor usage. Chinese tech companies are publicly positioning themselves as shifting toward domestic alternatives, signaling alignment with Beijing's push for self-sufficiency. DeepSeek used Huawei's 950PR for inference, the company confirmed last month. This concrete example of Chinese AI firms adopting Huawei over Nvidia demonstrates the competitive dynamic Beijing is cultivating. Regional analysis differs sharply from Western coverage by viewing the H200 stall as evidence of Beijing's strategic success in building indigenous alternatives, not as Beijing's weakness or hesitation.