Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the US might allow sales of Nvidia's Blackwell chips to China

The United States could eventually let Nvidia sell its most powerful computer chips to Chinese companies, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday. He also laid out a busy schedule of meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next year.

Bessent called Nvidia’s Blackwell chips the “crown jewel” when he spoke to CNBC on Tuesday morning. But he said technology moves so fast that these chips could become less special pretty quickly. That might create an opening to sell them to China down the road.

“If we think about the Blackwell now, they’re the crown jewel,” Bessent said. “What you’re describing is actually the pace that the technology is moving, not the pace that the negotiations are moving. So there may be a case down the road.”

Asked about timing, Bessent wasn’t sure but threw out a timeframe. “I don’t know whether it’s 12 or 24 months,” he said. “Given the incredible innovation that goes on at Nvidia, where the Blackwell chips may be 2, 3, 4 down their chip stack in terms of efficacy, and at that point, they could be sold on.”

Multiple high-level meetings planned

Bessent also talked about what’s coming up between the two leaders. Trump and Xi could meet next year at a Group of 20 event in December 2026 at Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida. There’s also a possible meeting at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in China in November.

That’s on top of two state visits already in the works for next year. “I think we’re going to have two state visits next year,” Bessent told CNBC. “President Trump will be going to Beijing and Xi will be coming to the US. And they may also see each other at the G-20 in Doral and then the APEC conference in Shenzhen in November.”

Bessent said things between Washington and Beijing are getting better. “The US-China relationship is on a much more even keel now,” he said.

Tech giant navigates uncertain waters

Huang gave more details when he talked to reporters Friday. Asked straight up whether Nvidia would sell AI accelerators from the Blackwell family, he said, “I don’t know. I hope so someday.” He mentioned that chip sales didn’t come up when he met with Ren Hongbin, who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Blackwell is Nvidia’s latest batch of artificial intelligence semiconductors. It’s become a big topic in trade talks between the US and China. But selling these products wasn’t part of what Trump and Xi talked about this week. Trump made it clear that Nvidia and Chinese officials need to keep talking on their own about whether the $5 trillion company can get into the Asian market.

This whole thing shows how tricky it is for American officials to handle technology exports while trying to keep economic ties with China going. The back-and-forth over semiconductor exports has made things complicated for both governments and tech companies trying to work within the rules.

Chinese tech companies still want to buy Nvidia’s products even though governments on both sides are putting pressure on them. How chip sales get sorted out remains one of the biggest things people are watching in US-China relations.

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