On July 15, 2025, Nvidia announced that it is once again filing applications to export its H20 GPU to China, noting that it has received assurances from the US government that these applications would be approved. Shortly thereafter, the other big US chip manufacturer, AMD, similarly announced that it would restart shipments of its MI308 chips to China after the US said it would approve the sales, after previously disclosing that restrictions on sales of these chips to China could result in a loss of up to $800 million. Likewise, Nvidia previously reported that it was unable to ship $2.5 billion worth of H20 chips due to the export licensing requirements.
The AI accelerator chips at issue were developed specifically for the Chinese market to comply with the then-existing US export controls, before the restrictions were further tightened by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the office primarily responsible for the enforcement of US export controls, pursuant to its authority under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). BIS imposed the H20 and similar restrictions through the issuance of "is informed" letters pursuant to 15 CFR § 744.23(b), which permits BIS to impose manufacturer-specific export restrictions by private letter.
That BIS is now changing its stance and appears once again willing to grant export licenses for these microchips seems in line with the US-China framework agreement, on which we reported previously. For more information on the background of export controls measures between the US and China, we kindly refer you to that note.
While the exact details of the framework remain unclear, both countries have seemingly agreed to soften the application of certain of the most recently US-China export controls. China has, it appears, begun to grant export licenses for rare earth minerals to the US, and the US has resumed the granting of export licenses for certain jet engines, ethane, and now some microchips.
***
We will continue to monitor developments in this area and encourage you to subscribe to be kept informed of latest developments. Please contact the authors or your usual Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer contacts for more information.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
