Chip export approvals stall

U.S. approvals for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial-intelligence chip exports to China have slowed to a crawl as the Commerce Department’s export-control bureau loses staff. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported on April 10 that the Bureau of Industry and Security has lost dozens of experienced employees over the past year, with nearly 20% turnover among rulemaking and licensing staff. People familiar with the agency told Bloomberg that tighter review by senior officials has stretched approvals into “several months” and created billions of dollars in export backlogs. (bloomberg.com) The delay has hit the chips Washington said it would allow into China. On January 13, the Bureau of Industry and Security said it would review license applications for Nvidia H200, Advanced Micro Devices MI325X and similar processors on a case-by-case basis after President Donald Trump’s December 8, 2025 announcement reopening a controlled channel for those sales. (bis.gov) Those licenses come with conditions. Applicants must show the exports will not reduce chip supply for U.S. customers, that the Chinese buyer has compliance procedures in place, and that the product passed independent third-party testing in the United States for performance and security, the January 13 rule said. (bis.gov) The bottleneck has been visible for months. On February 24, Commerce Department export-enforcement chief David Peters told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Nvidia had sold zero H200 chips to China two months after Trump allowed shipments, according to Bloomberg. (bloomberg.com) By March 5, Reuters reported that Nvidia had stopped production of China-bound H200 chips and shifted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company capacity to newer products because export controls were still stalling sales. Reuters said the move suggested Nvidia did not expect meaningful H200 sales in China in the near term. (reuters.com) The slowdown lands as China’s domestic suppliers take a bigger share of the market Nvidia once dominated. Tom’s Hardware, citing International Data Corporation numbers reported by Reuters, said on April 1 that Nvidia’s share of China’s artificial-intelligence server chip market had fallen to 55% in 2025, while Chinese suppliers reached 41% and shipped 1.65 million artificial-intelligence graphics processors. (tomshardware.com) Commerce officials have argued that the January policy still protects national security while allowing controlled sales. Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler said on January 13 that permitting H200 sales to China “under controlled conditions” would strengthen the U.S. technology ecosystem. (bis.gov) For Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, the immediate problem is simpler than the policy debate: the White House reopened the door in December, the Bureau of Industry and Security rewrote the rules in January, and the licenses are still moving slowly in April. (bis.gov)