U.S. Senior Officials Reportedly Blocked Discussion on Nvidia Chips with China

President Donald Trump recently stated in an interview that he would not authorize the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China. The Wall Street Journal reported on November 4, citing current and former U.S. officials, that ahead of the U.S.-China leaders’ meeting Trump had at one point considered raising a request from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to permit exports of the company’s next‑generation AI chips to China. Following near‑unanimous opposition from senior advisers, however, the matter was removed from the summit agenda.

U.S. outlets described the Blackwell series as Nvidia’s most capable AI processors to date, noting that approving their export would constitute a significant shift in policy. Jensen Huang has reportedly lobbied persistently to preserve market access in China. As the summit approached, senior officials — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Trade Representative Greer, and Commerce Secretary Lutnick — reportedly argued that such sales would pose national security risks. The Wall Street Journal characterized Trump’s decision to drop the topic as a victory for those advisers, while indicating that Huang is likely to continue pursuing permission to sell Blackwell chips to China.

Although Trump reiterated that the U.S. would not permit China to acquire chips manufactured on the most advanced process nodes, he also highlighted the importance of constructive engagement. In a November 2 interview on “60 Minutes,” Trump characterized U.S.-China relations as highly competitive but stressed that cooperation, rather than attempts to crush the other side, can yield mutual benefits.

Following a brief truce in trade tensions, China has delineated a set of sensitive issues. Bloomberg on November 4 quoted Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng, who identified Taiwan, democracy and human rights, political systems, and development rights as Beijing’s four red lines. Xie warned that tariff wars, trade conflicts, capacity disputes and technology confrontations are dead ends, and he urged concrete follow‑through on agreements reached at the leaders’ meeting and on the joint arrangements from Kuala Lumpur economic and trade consultations to restore confidence in U.S.-China relations and the global economy. Bloomberg noted that any pause in the trade dispute remains fragile, with China urging the United States to avoid touching the four sensitive topics to help preserve the summit’s conciliatory tone.