US Approves H200 Sales to China as Trump-Xi Summit Opens Tech Détente

On the eve of and during the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, a striking reversal in US-China chip policy took shape. The Trump administration approved the export of Nvidia's H200 accelerators to ten Chinese companies, marking a significant loosening of restrictions that had constrained semiconductor sales to the mainland. Simultaneously, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared at a state banquet hosted by Xi and Trump, signaling tacit endorsement of closer tech ties between the two powers.

This is not a trivial policy shift. The H200 restrictions have been a linchpin of US tech containment strategy for over a year. Their relaxation suggests the White House sees tactical benefit in warming relations with China on trade and investment, at least for the durationBond price sensitivity to interest rate changes. of the summit and any follow-up negotiations. For Nvidia, the approval unlocks a large addressable market that had been cordoned off; for Chinese AI startups and hyperscalers, it means access to cutting-edge compute at a moment when they are racing to catch up in LLM and inference capability.

The broader optic is one of cautious dealmaking. Trump invited Xi to the White House in September, and both sides are talking up stability and mutual economic benefit. Tech giants like Musk, Huang, and Cook attended the banquet, positioning them as dealmakers rather than nationalist cheerleaders. This is bullish for near-term tech earnings and China equities (especially Alibaba, Baidu), but it also introduces policy risk: if trade negotiations sour or Taiwan tensions spike, the chip export window could slam shut again just as quickly.

Market reaction has been muted so far because traders are uncertain how durable this détente is. Xi's warning to Trump on Taiwan during the summit was a reminder that alignment is fragile. Investors are pricing in a near-term capex boost for semiconductors but hedging against a recurrence of Cold War dynamics in H2 2026.