By Laura Bratton
Publication Date: 2026-01-14 15:52:00
Nvidia (NVDA) stock slid over 1% Wednesday after Reuters reported that Chinese authorities have instructed customs agents to ban the tech giant’s H200 AI chips from entering the country.
The drop in share price outpaced the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite’s (^IXIC) decline as stocks slid across the board. The US formally approved H200 exports to China with some conditions on Tuesday.
Citing people briefed on the matter, Reuters also reported that Chinese government officials instructed domestic tech firms not to purchase H200 chips unless necessary. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
The news followed a separate report from The Information Tuesday that Beijing would only allow imports of the AI chips under special circumstances, like university research or development labs.
Simmering geopolitical tensions between the US and China have disrupted Nvidia’s sales to what was once, in the not-so-distant past, the chipmaker’s second-most-important market. Revenue from China, including Hong Kong, fell 45% from the previous year to roughly $3 billion in Nvidia’s most recent quarter, according to Bloomberg data.
Initial disruption to Nvidia’s China business came from the US government as Trump restricted the company’s lowest-end AI chip sales to the country in April 2025. But after persistent lobbying and praise by CEO Jensen Huang, the president reversed his stance in return for a 15% cut of…
