President Donald Trump got another slap on the wrist Wednesday night from the Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board for his approval allowing Nvidia to sell advanced computer chips to China in exchange for the U.S. Treasury receiving 25% of sales revenue.
The board questioned Trump’s decision in a highly critical editorial.
“The Indians struck a better deal when they sold Manhattan to the Dutch. Why would the President give away one of America’s chief technological advantages to an adversary and its chief economic competitor?” the board railed.
The U.S. currently leads China in artificial intelligence capabilities largely due to superior computing power. China’s AI chips lag behind Nvidia’s technology by up to two years, the Journal noted. Indeed, the Justice Department recently charged Chinese businessmen with smuggling advanced Nvidia H200 chips, underscoring their vital importance for both civilian and military applications.
“Yet now Mr. Trump wants to sell the advanced H200 without strings. The question is why?”
The board said Trump’s easing of export controls on computer chips “illustrates his confusing China policy, to the extent he has one,” noting Trump has shifted to sound like “post-Cold War ‘globalists’ he denounces who thought the lure of commerce would make the world safer.”
Supporters of easing export controls argue it could make Chinese AI developers dependent on U.S. technology and slow their chip development efforts. However, the Journal noted China is actively trying to close the AI gap. Allowing chip sales will reduce available computing capacity for American companies, including startups.
Additionally, China could eventually copy Nvidia’s technology.
“We sure hope Mr. Trump isn’t doing this for Nvidia’s 25% tax payments to Treasury. The Constitution vests taxing power in Congress, yet Mr. Trump is essentially trading national security for pennies on the dollar,” the irked editors wrote.
They concluded: “What is Mr. Trump getting from Beijing now besides better mood music before his planned visit to China in the spring?”
The Journal’s editorial board has hit the Trump administration with scathing criticism this year, predominantly over his tariffs and handling of Russia
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