Chip exports stall amid bureaucracy
Approvals for Nvidia and AMD AI‑chip exports to China are reportedly being delayed not by law but by bottlenecks at the Commerce Department, slowing shipments despite granted permissions in some cases. Coverage also notes chip stocks and suppliers are rallying and ASML raised guidance on surging AI‑related demand even as export frictions persist. (startupnews.fyi, cnbctv18.com, gurufocus.com)
U.S. approvals for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices artificial intelligence chip exports to China are slowing inside the Commerce Department, even in cases the White House has already signaled it will allow. (finance.yahoo.com) Bloomberg, cited by Yahoo Finance on April 13, reported that the Bureau of Industry and Security has lost 101 employees since 2024, a 19% drop, and that turnover among licensing and rulemaking staff is near 20%. The same report said average license turnaround times reached 76 days in the first half of 2025, up from 38 days in 2023. (finance.yahoo.com) The bottleneck matters because this office handles export licenses for advanced chips and other sensitive technology. The Bureau of Industry and Security says it exists to advance national security through export controls, and on April 7 it said it needed more time to process applications from “approved integrated circuit designers,” extending that timeline through December 31, 2026. (bis.gov) The current pileup sits on top of tighter China rules that were imposed last year. On April 15, 2025, the Commerce Department said Nvidia’s H20 and Advanced Micro Devices’ MI308 artificial intelligence chips, and equivalent products, would require export licenses for China. (cnbc.com) That means the holdup is not simply about whether Washington wants these shipments blocked. It is also about how fast a smaller staff can review a larger caseload that now includes chip controls, tariff probes and case-by-case conditions on some overseas deals, according to the Bloomberg account cited by Yahoo Finance. (finance.yahoo.com) One example is Nvidia’s H200 for China. Yahoo Finance, citing Bloomberg, said Nvidia had not sold a single H200 into China months after the White House cleared the deal, despite already receiving orders. (finance.yahoo.com) Investors are separating that licensing friction from demand for artificial intelligence hardware elsewhere. ASML, the Dutch company that makes lithography systems used to manufacture advanced chips, said on April 15 that it raised its 2026 revenue forecast to a range of 36 billion euros to 40 billion euros after stronger-than-expected first-quarter results. (cnbc.com) ASML’s update points to the same market force lifting Nvidia and its suppliers: cloud companies and other customers are still spending heavily on artificial intelligence infrastructure. The result is a split market, with demand pushing forecasts higher while export paperwork slows some of the most politically sensitive shipments. (cnbc.com)
