Stock Markets February 24, 2026

U.S. Official Says China Has Not Received Nvidia H200 Chips So Far

Commerce official testifies that no H200 sales to Chinese customers have occurred amid conditional approvals and political scrutiny

By Avery Klein NVDA
U.S. Official Says China Has Not Received Nvidia H200 Chips So Far
NVDA

A U.S. Commerce Department official told lawmakers that, to his knowledge, none of Nvidia's H200 AI accelerators have been sold to Chinese buyers. The disclosure comes after a recent conditional approval from the Trump administration for China-bound shipments, which has drawn criticism from lawmakers and former officials across party lines. Shipments remain stalled as guardrails in the export process are applied.

Key Points

  • Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Peters told Congress he understands that no H200 chips have been sold to Chinese customers so far - impacting semiconductor and AI infrastructure sectors.
  • The Trump administration granted a conditional approval last month for China-bound H200 sales, a move that has drawn bipartisan criticism from lawmakers and former officials - affecting trade and regulatory scrutiny in tech markets.
  • Shipments remain stalled due to guardrails in the export process; the debate highlights tensions between commercial technology transfers and national security concerns in defense and AI sectors.

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 - None of Nvidia's H200 AI accelerators have been delivered to customers in China, a senior Commerce Department enforcement official told a congressional panel on Tuesday.

"My understanding is that none so far," said Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Peters when asked about sales of the second-most advanced Nvidia chips. The comment was made during testimony before lawmakers.

Requests for comment to the Chinese Embassy in Washington and to Nvidia were not answered immediately.

Last month, the administration of President Donald Trump issued a formal, conditional approval for sales of Nvidia's H200 devices to China. That decision provoked criticism from U.S. lawmakers and former government officials from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Officials leading the policy argued that permitting the shipments, under specific conditions, serves to discourage Chinese rivals - including the heavily sanctioned company Huawei - from redoubling efforts to match the most advanced chip architectures produced by firms such as Nvidia and AMD. That rationale was advanced by the White House AI czar, David Sacks, who is identified with the administration's approach to these exports.

Opponents, frequently described as China hawks, counter that advanced AI chips could be redirected away from commercial applications and repurposed to accelerate military programs, potentially eroding U.S. advantages in artificial intelligence.

At present, actual deliveries of the H200 to Chinese customers remain halted, officials said, as the export process continues to operate under a set of guardrails designed to control and monitor shipments.

Separately, a market-focused product called ProPicks AI assesses Nvidia alongside thousands of other companies using more than 100 financial metrics. That system, which applies machine-driven analysis to fundamentals, momentum and valuation, has highlighted past winners such as Super Micro Computer (+185%) and AppLovin (+157%), and evaluates whether Nvidia appears in current strategies compared with other opportunities in the same sector.

The status of H200 shipments to China remains uncertain as regulators apply the approved conditions and additional safeguards intended to prevent unauthorized diversions.

Risks

  • Risk of advanced chips being diverted from commercial use to military applications, a concern stated by China hawks that affects defense and national security-related markets.
  • Political and regulatory pushback following the conditional approval could delay or restrict shipments further, creating uncertainty for semiconductor firms and supply chains.
  • Potential reputational and policy consequences for companies and regulators as bipartisan criticism of the approval process raises scrutiny of future export decisions in the AI and semiconductor sectors.

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