Overview
- The proclamation targets a narrow set of high-end processors, explicitly naming Nvidia’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X, while carving out exemptions for U.S. data centers, startups, non–data-center consumer and civil industrial uses, public sector applications, and imports that support domestic supply-chain buildout.
- Commerce and BIS rules allow vetted exports of H200 and comparable chips to China contingent on independent U.S. third-party testing, certification that U.S. supply is sufficient, security vetting, and a cap limiting China shipments to 50% of volumes supplied to U.S. customers.
- Some China-bound chips produced in Taiwan must now route through the United States for testing before export, a process that subjects those transiting shipments to the new 25% tariff once they enter the country.
- The action caps a nine-month Section 232 probe that found the United States fully manufactures only about 10% of the chips it needs, prompting a targeted approach that avoids disrupting critical domestic uses while pressuring reshoring.
- Nvidia welcomed the framework as balancing competitiveness and security, AMD said it complies with U.S. export laws, chip stocks slipped slightly after the announcement, and the White House signaled broader semiconductor tariffs could follow depending on forthcoming negotiations and reviews.