Nvidia logo. AFP=Yonhap News 

While U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to allow Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the 'H200,' to be exported to China, voices of concern are growing in the U.S. Congress that this decision will harm the nation's strategic interests, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the 12th (local time).

In a recent letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Rutnik, Chairman John Moolenaar (Republican, Michigan) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party expressed concern that "approving the sale of cutting-edge chips to Chinese companies risks undermining the significant strategic advantage achieved during President Trump's first term," adding, "Allowing China to purchase millions of chips that are more advanced than their domestic alternatives will hinder President Trump's efforts to maintain U.S. dominance in the AI industry."

Moolenaar questioned the basis for the decision to allow the export of the H200 to China and demanded an explanation from Secretary Rutnik.

Nvidia, which has long hoped to expand semiconductor exports to China, argued that China is making breakthroughs, such as Huawei developing an AI chip comparable in performance to Nvidia's, the '910C,' despite U.S. export restrictions. Nvidia is reported to have persuaded President Trump by arguing that it would be more beneficial for maintaining U.S. AI superiority to make China dependent on advanced U.S. semiconductor chips, thus obtaining this export approval.

However, Moolenaar asserted that Nvidia had exaggerated the performance of Huawei's AI chip for lobbying purposes, suggesting that the premise for the decision to approve H200 exports was flawed.

He emphasized that while Huawei's 910C chip was produced by Taiwan's TSMC and not in mainland China, this fact was not adequately reflected in the current judgment.

Due to the U.S. Department of Commerce's export control violation ruling, Huawei can no longer commission TSMC to produce its next-generation chip, the 910D.

Consequently, Huawei will have to produce the 910D chip in mainland China, which means the 910D chip will inevitably be less powerful than its predecessor, the 910C, Moolenaar pointed out.

Although Huawei is recognized globally as a company with excellent semiconductor design capabilities, it relies on foundry companies for semiconductor manufacturing.

Moolenaar also cited recent reports that DeepSeek, a leading Chinese AI company, relies on smuggled Nvidia chips for AI model training as evidence that China's 'AI semiconductor rise' is being overestimated.

Voices of concern regarding the approval of H200 exports to China are emerging across the U.S. Congress, spanning both Democrats and Republicans.

Six senators, including Republican Pete Ricketts, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, and Democratic Whip Chris Coons, recently introduced a bill to ban the export of the H200 to China for 30 months.

If this bill is enacted, exports of the H200 and the most advanced AI chip, Blackwell, to China will be prohibited.

While concerns about the approval of H200 exports to China are also high within the ruling Republican party, public criticism is being restrained to avoid appearing to oppose President Trump.

The FT reported, "According to several individuals familiar with discussions within Congress, Republicans are also greatly disappointed with this decision but are hesitant to criticize it, fearing a backlash from President Trump."