Lutnick grilled on Nvidia chip sales to China by Sen. Chris Coons
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testifies at the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on fiscal year 2027 budget requests on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, April 22, 2026.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., pressured Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to allow NvidiaH200 chips for artificial intelligence will be sold to China, a letter first reported by CNBC said.
The letter came after Coons questioned Lutnick at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing last week. Lutnick said he understands that the United States has not sold any H200s to Chinese companies.
“We haven’t sold them any chips yet,” Lutnick said in response to a question from Coons at the April 22 hearing.
Lutnick’s statement contradicted remarks from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who told reporters in March that Nvidia had received approval from both the U.S. and Chinese governments to sell its H200 chips to China.
“Your statements before the committee appear to contradict Huang’s comments,” Coons said in a letter sent Thursday.
Coons, who is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent his letter weeks before President Donald Trump was scheduled to travel to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Trump administration told Nvidia in 2025 that it would need a license to export chips to China and several other countries. Previously, at least one-fifth of Nvidia’s data center revenue came from China sales.
Coons said he remained “deeply concerned” about the export of H200 chips to China, adding that “allowing any company in China to purchase these products poses a serious risk to our national security and economic leadership.”
In the letter, Coons also asked Lutnick to report next week how many H200 chips have been licensed for export to China, how many have been shipped to China, and how many more the Commerce Department plans to license.
A Department of Commerce spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment.
