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Short answer: In August 2025, the Trump administration linked U.S. export approvals for NVIDIA’s H20 and AMD’s MI308 AI accelerators to an expectation that the government would receive 15% of revenue from licensed China sales. That was reported and publicly confirmed, but the public record reviewed through August 2026 does not show a generally applicable regulation codifying a 15% payment. NVIDIA calls it a government “expectation,” while AMD describes a 15% revenue transfer in its risk disclosures.
The arrangement was narrow: it concerned specified, licensed products—not every NVIDIA or AMD chip, all China revenue, or a conventional tax. It also did not guarantee that Chinese customers would buy the products or that either company remitted a particular dollar amount.
What happened in August 2025?
The episode followed a sharp change in U.S. export policy. On April 9, 2025, the U.S. government told NVIDIA that H20 exports required a license for China, Hong Kong, Macau and specified D:5-related destinations. NVIDIA subsequently recorded a $4.5 billion charge tied to H20 excess inventory and purchase obligations after demand was restricted. NVIDIA’s April 2025 filing documents the licensing requirement and charge.
As the administration began allowing some shipments again, reporting in August described a deal under which NVIDIA and AMD would provide 15% of revenue from licensed H20 and MI308 sales to the U.S. government. President Donald Trump publicly confirmed the figure and said he had initially sought 20%. The Associated Press reported the arrangement and the administration’s explanation at the time. AP coverage
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NVIDIA’s later filing is important because it says the government had not published a regulation codifying the 15% requirement. That makes the most accurate description an unusual revenue-sharing expectation or licensing condition associated with export approvals—not an ordinary, generally applicable export fee.
Which sales did the 15% concern?
| Company | Product | Scope described in public filings and reporting |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | H20 | Licensed H20 sales to China; the product was designed to comply with earlier performance limits and later became license-controlled. |
| AMD | MI308 | Licensed MI308 sales to China; AMD’s annual report describes a 15% government share of revenue generated by those sales. |
“Revenue” is not the same as profit, cash actually remitted, shipment value, or total China sales. The public materials reviewed do not establish a universal formula for calculating the share, a payment schedule, or a confirmed remittance by either company.
NVIDIA H20
The H20 is a China-focused accelerator derived from NVIDIA’s Hopper generation and configured to meet earlier U.S. performance restrictions. After the April 2025 license requirement, NVIDIA disclosed the $4.5 billion charge noted above. Later licenses permitted at least some H20 shipments, but Chinese authorities and customers subsequently raised security concerns about the product. The Congressional Research Service summarizes the policy and subsequent concerns.
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AMD MI308
The MI308 is AMD’s China-relevant accelerator derived from the Instinct MI300 family. AMD’s 2025 annual report says the U.S. government would receive 15% of revenue from licensed MI308 sales to China and warns that the arrangement could lead to litigation, higher costs and reduced competitiveness. AMD’s annual report
Is the 15% a tax, tariff, fee or donation?
None of those labels is fully established by the public record.
- Not clearly an ordinary tax: The arrangement was tied to particular export permissions and products, rather than a generally applicable tax enacted by Congress.
- Not a conventional tariff: It was associated with export licensing, not a customs duty on imports.
- Not clearly voluntary: A company’s ability to sell depended on obtaining a U.S. license, which makes a “donation” characterization contestable.
- Best description: A reported revenue-sharing expectation or licensing condition connected to export approvals.
The Congressional Research Service said Congress could examine the executive branch’s authority to receive proceeds from licensed chip sales. Lawmakers and commentators questioned whether conditioning export permission on a government revenue share fits existing export-control and appropriations authorities. Those are legal and constitutional questions—not a court ruling that the arrangement was invalid. CRS analysis
How much money was involved?
Early estimates illustrate the difference between potential and realized money. One contemporary estimate put possible 2025 H20 China sales at about 1.5 million chips and roughly $23 billion in revenue if restrictions had not intervened. A 15% share of that estimate would be approximately $3.45 billion, but that is a hypothetical calculation based on estimated sales—not money shown as paid to the government. The estimate was reproduced in contemporaneous discussion.
NVIDIA’s fiscal 2026 third-quarter filing gives a more concrete figure: approximately $50 million in H20 revenue under the relevant licenses during the filing’s disclosed period. The filing does not, in the reviewed disclosure, confirm that 15% of that amount was remitted. NVIDIA fiscal 2026 third-quarter filing
No comparable realized AMD payment amount is established in the reviewed filings. Therefore, saying that the government “received billions” or that NVIDIA paid a confirmed $7.5 million would overstate the evidence.
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Why did Washington allow the sales?
The administration presented the policy as part of a broader U.S.–China negotiation. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick characterized the H20 as a lower-tier product compared with NVIDIA’s frontier accelerators. Officials also argued that allowing controlled sales could keep U.S. companies commercially present in China instead of surrendering customers and technical ecosystems to domestic suppliers.
Contemporaneous reporting connected the decision to negotiations that also involved Chinese rare-earth export restrictions. That connection was reported as part of broader bargaining; the public sources do not establish a formal one-for-one written exchange. Reuters report republished by Yahoo Finance
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Arguments for and against the arrangement
Why supporters backed it
- U.S. companies retain some access to a major market rather than abandoning it entirely.
- The government can collect money from sales that might otherwise be prohibited.
- Continued commercial relationships may support U.S. semiconductor ecosystems and future competitiveness.
- The administration viewed H20 and MI308 as less capable than leading U.S. accelerators.
Why critics objected
- If the chips create a national-security risk, a payment does not reduce their usefulness to Chinese AI developers or military users.
- Linking approval to revenue could blur export-control decisions with executive revenue collection.
- The arrangement may create an incentive to relax controls in exchange for money.
- China could respond by accelerating domestic alternatives or rejecting U.S. products on security and political grounds.
A Democratic letter from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and a Senate letter raised concerns about the policy’s national-security and legal implications. House letter Senate letter
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What changed in 2026?
On January 13, 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security revised its China licensing policy for certain newer products, including NVIDIA’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X. Qualifying applications moved from a presumption of denial to case-by-case review, subject to security conditions and technical thresholds. The revised rule became effective January 15. BIS announcement Federal Register rule
NVIDIA separately reported that it received licenses for small amounts of H200 products for specified China-based customers beginning in February 2026. That disclosure does not say those H200 licenses carried the original H20/MI308 15% term. The January policy change should therefore be treated as a separate licensing development unless a specific license or filing expressly connects it to revenue sharing. NVIDIA 2026 filing
Did China actually buy the chips?
U.S. authorization, customer orders, physical shipments, recognized revenue and government payments are separate events. Chinese authorities and companies raised security concerns about H20, and later reporting described weak or stalled NVIDIA China AI-chip sales while domestic suppliers, including Huawei, gained ground. AP report on China sales and domestic competition
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Quick Recap
What the headline gets wrong
- It does not describe a tax enacted through normal tax legislation.
- It does not mean NVIDIA and AMD paid billions; disclosed realized payment amounts are not established.
- It does not cover all of either company’s China business.
- It does not prove the same 15% condition applies to H200, MI325X or every later license.
- It does not turn export approval into evidence of Chinese acceptance or large-scale shipments.
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