NVIDIA restarts H200 China manufacturing amid export shifts
Reports say NVIDIA has restarted H200 manufacturing in China as the CEO forecasted massive demand, while a separate report notes the U.S. withdrew a draft rule that would have required pre‑approval for AI chip exports — both moves shift supply and compliance dynamics for procurement. ( )
Jensen Huang told reporters at GTC on March 17 that Nvidia has secured U.S. export licenses and taken purchase orders from multiple Chinese customers for the H200, confirming the company has moved from “one license for a small number” toward broader approvals. (bloomberg.com cnbc.com) Financial Times reporting in early March said Nvidia had previously paused H200 production for China and reallocated wafer capacity at TSMC to its next‑generation Vera Rubin line, a shift Reuters summarized as happening around March 5, 2026. (marketscreener.com reuters.com via aggregation) The Commerce Department’s “AI Action Plan Implementation” draft was posted on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs tracking site on February 26 and was removed from that site on March 13, 2026 according to reporting based on the government notice. (yahoo.com usnews.com) Documents and reporting show the pulled draft would have required case‑by‑case U.S. approvals tied to factors such as government‑to‑government assurances or foreign investment in U.S. data centers for large shipments (figures cited in coverage included thresholds like 200,000 chips). (bloomberg.com digitimes.com) Reporting also notes the withdrawn draft was drafted to replace a January 2025 Biden‑era export framework, meaning the administration had been weighing a substantive rewrite of global export rules before the March 13 pullback. (yahoo.com bloomberg.com) Earlier government comments and company disclosures indicated Nvidia had only been allowed to ship “small amounts” of H200s under prior licensing while a U.S. Commerce official told reporters in March that, before this week, none of the H200 units had been sold into China — details that frame why both licensing wins and the withdrawn draft materially change near‑term compliance calculations. (reuters.com via aggregation bloomberg.com)
