A U.S. trade official confirmed that a small initial batch of NVIDIA H200 AI chips has cleared licensing and customs, with "very few" units shipped to China and Hong Kong after months of delays. President Trump had approved these sales earlier this year in exchange for a 25% cut, with the U.S. government conducting case-by-case national security assessments and compliance inspections, leading to some license denials.
The U.S. government is allowing limited, highly controlled H200 shipments to China, but the process is restrictive and not indicative of large-scale supply.