Nvidia, AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US, official says

U.S. imposes revenue-based fee on AI chip exports to China

The United States has set a new condition for granting export licenses to sell certain advanced chips to China: Nvidia and AMD must pay a 15% fee on revenues from those sales, according to officials familiar with the policy.

Which products are affected

• Nvidia’s China-focused H20 accelerator, designed to comply with prior U.S. export controls.
• AMD’s MI308, a high-performance GPU targeting AI workloads.

Context and significance

The fee is tied to export license approvals and applies specifically to select AI accelerators tailored for the Chinese market. It marks an unprecedented revenue-based condition in U.S. export controls, adding a direct cost to sales while maintaining a controlled channel for limited access to high-performance compute in China.

Industry impact

• Financial effect: The 15% levy could total in the billions of dollars annually depending on approved volumes, potentially reshaping pricing, demand, and margins for China-specific chips.
• Supply strategy: Vendors may adjust product roadmaps, binning strategies, and regional SKUs to navigate performance thresholds and license criteria.
• Customer dynamics: Chinese cloud and enterprise buyers could see higher effective costs for AI infrastructure, accelerating efforts to localize compute or shift to alternative accelerators where feasible.

Company responses

• Nvidia said it follows U.S. rules for global markets and noted it has not shipped H20 to China for months, expressing hope that export controls will still allow U.S. companies to compete.
• AMD has not publicly detailed pricing or fulfillment adjustments tied to the new fee, but its China-directed SKUs are expected to remain within compliance thresholds.

What’s next

• License scope and duration: Clarity on how long the fee will apply and whether additional models or future generations will be included.
• Allocation of proceeds: The U.S. government has not specified how revenue from the fee will be used.
• Market response: Watch for changes in China AI accelerator procurement, including potential shifts to domestic chips and diversified supply strategies.