U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer revealed during a Bloomberg TV interview on Friday that restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports to China did not feature prominently in recent diplomatic conversations with Chinese officials in Beijing.
These remarks indicate that any potential breakthrough allowing sales of advanced H200 processors to China remains uncertain, even though the CEO of a major chip manufacturer received a last-minute invitation to accompany U.S. President Donald Trump on his Beijing visit this week.
“This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting. We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting,” Greer stated, noting that “15 to 17” U.S. CEOs who attended Thursday’s meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed their respective companies’ concerns.
According to Reuters, approximately 10 Chinese companies received clearance to purchase H200 processors, including major technology firms Alibaba, Tencent and Bytedance, though no actual shipments have occurred. The Trump administration granted approval for H200 exports to China in December and imposed additional requirements in January.
Greer emphasized that accepting H200 imports would constitute a “sovereign decision” for China.
“They’re fluid, right? They change over time. It depends on what threats you see, what’s commercially available worldwide, what the Chinese can already do,” Greer explained.
“And so you want to make sure you strike a balance between national security, protecting high tech, but also making sure that we’re benefiting from overseas markets. And so those are the kinds of things that went into the H200 decision as to whether the Chinese are going to buy or not.”
Although Chinese artificial intelligence companies such as DeepSeek increasingly emphasize their use of domestically produced processors, American semiconductor restrictions continue to hinder Beijing’s efforts toward technological independence as domestic manufacturing facilities face challenges scaling production.
Shortages in computing capacity have compelled numerous Chinese AI companies to limit user access in recent months, while Chinese policymakers express concern about increasing reliance on American chips, viewing this as a potential supply chain weakness.
Conservative American legislators and former officials from the previous administration have contended that providing advanced AI processors to China would enable them to match American capabilities in cutting-edge artificial intelligence and support China’s military objectives.
“They’re making their own determinations. They’re very committed to domestic production,” Greer commented.
“They often see U.S. high tech sometimes as a threat to them because if we’re ahead of the game like we are on AI chips, sometimes they feel that can stop their own growth.”
