By Eleanor Olcott,Zijing Wu
Publication Date: 2026-01-17 01:30:00
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Suppliers of parts for Nvidia’s H200 chips, which recently gained US approval for sale in China, have paused production after local customs officials blocked shipments of the AI processors.
Makers of essential H200 components, such as the printed circuit board, have paused manufacturing following moves to prevent chip shipments entering China, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
A customs ban, if sustained, would be a blow to Nvidia. The company has heavily lobbied Washington and Beijing to allow sales of its H200 chips, an older generation of AI processors, in China. After US President Donald Trump indicated he would permit sales last month, Nvidia began stepping up production.
The company had expected more than 1mn orders from Chinese clients, according to the people with knowledge of the matter. Its suppliers had been working around the clock to prepare for deliveries initially planned for as early as March.
However, Chinese customs officials on Tuesday summoned logistics companies in Shenzhen to tell them they could not submit customs clearance applications for H200 chips, one of the people said, though it was unclear if the ban was temporary.
The person added Nvidia was caught by surprise by the customs authorities’ move, which occurred as early shipments of H200s arrived in Hong Kong this week.
The regulatory uncertainty led…
