Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Pushes for China Market Access Amid Ongoing Trade Restrictions

Reviewed byNidhi Govil

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang advocates for resuming chip sales to China despite ongoing export restrictions, while the company faces a complete market shutdown in the region and seeks to navigate complex US-China trade tensions.

Nvidia's China Conundrum Deepens

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang finds himself at the center of escalating US-China trade tensions, as his company faces complete exclusion from what was once its most lucrative market. Speaking at multiple venues including Nvidia's first-ever GTC conference in Washington D.C. and the APEC summit in South Korea, Huang has mounted an aggressive campaign to restore access to Chinese markets

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Source: New York Post

Source: New York Post

The situation has become particularly stark for Nvidia. Huang revealed that the company's business in China is now at "zero," a dramatic fall from the near-total market dominance it once enjoyed

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. This represents one of the most significant market losses in recent corporate history, with the company previously holding approximately 95% market share in China's AI chip sector.

Export Restrictions and Political Maneuvering

The current impasse stems from a complex web of export controls and political positioning by both nations. US export restrictions initially limited Chinese access to Nvidia's most advanced semiconductors, citing national security concerns. The situation escalated when the Trump administration imposed a blanket export ban, which was later relaxed in July with the condition that the US government would take a 15% cut of China sales revenue

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However, China responded by effectively closing its market to Nvidia. Chinese internet regulators summoned the company to explain security risks, while Beijing actively discouraged domestic companies from purchasing Nvidia's H20 chips—a downgraded version specifically designed for the Chinese market

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The recent Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea offered little hope for immediate resolution. While President Trump confirmed that semiconductors were discussed, he explicitly stated that Nvidia's most advanced Blackwell GPUs were "not on the table" during negotiations

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Source: The Hill

Source: The Hill

China's Strategic Response

Beijing's approach reflects a broader strategy of technological self-reliance. The country is rapidly developing its own AI ecosystem, with Huawei's Ascend 910 chips leading the charge. The Chinese tech giant has pledged annual refreshes of its AI accelerator portfolio and boasts a complete vertical integration including Ascend silicon, CANN API (a CUDA alternative), and domestic training frameworks like MindSpore and PaddlePaddle

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Source: Axios

Source: Axios

While Chinese hardware still lags behind Nvidia in raw performance and power efficiency, companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and startups such as Iluvatar are working to reduce dependence on CUDA and transition to domestic APIs. This parallel development has been accelerated by the export restrictions, with Chinese chip stocks experiencing significant growth

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Huang's Diplomatic Offensive

Despite the challenging environment, Huang continues to advocate for normalized trade relations. At the Washington D.C. GTC conference, he argued that "America needs to be the most aggressive in adopting AI technology" and that complete retreat from China would hurt American interests more than Chinese ones

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Huang's arguments center on several key points: China represents a "singular, vital, important, dynamic market" that cannot be replaced; American technology companies should serve Chinese markets to "win hearts and minds" of developers; and complete withdrawal risks leaving America "ill-prepared" for Chinese software that may "permeate the world"

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Industry and Political Implications

The standoff has broader implications beyond Nvidia's financial performance. Recent RAND Corporation analyses suggest that while the US maintains a significant compute-capacity lead, Chinese AI models are rapidly closing the gap, with compute access representing a key bottleneck for Beijing's AI ambitions

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US lawmakers remain skeptical of any potential compromise. Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, compared selling Nvidia's AI capabilities to China as "akin to giving Iran weapons-grade uranium," emphasizing concerns about maintaining America's AI advantage

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