48 hours.

That is how long Trump’s Nvidia deal survived before Beijing unveiled its response.

The Financial Times confirms Chinese regulators are building an approval regime that requires every H200 buyer to prove domestic chips cannot do the job.

Read that again.

To purchase American semiconductors, Chinese companies must now submit formal justification to the state explaining why Huawei Ascend is insufficient.

This is not a tariff. This is a permission slip regime.

The numbers reveal the trap closing:

Trump announced 25% US Treasury levy on December 8. China began drafting buyer restrictions by December 9. The pattern is identical to the H20 rejection that generated zero sales and zero Treasury payments despite months of availability.

Nvidia earned $12 billion from China in fiscal 2024. That revenue is now gated behind bureaucratic approval designed to fail.

The semiconductor paradox has inverted.

Washington believed selling yesterday’s technology at tomorrow’s prices would create dependency. Beijing responded by weaponizing that dependency against itself.

Every approval denied accelerates Huawei. Every justification required trains Chinese firms to articulate why domestic alternatives fall short, creating a roadmap for closing the gap. Every restricted sale funds the $1 billion smuggling networks already documented in 2025.

The Silicon Tax assumed a willing buyer. China just announced it will not be willing.

What comes next defines the decade:

Either Trump revokes approval and returns to containment, or American chips enter China through a bureaucratic maze designed to strangle sales while Beijing builds the independent ecosystem Washington feared most.

The technology cold war just entered its next phase.

China does not intend to pay tribute.

https://x.com/shanaka86/status/1998384773396660442

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5808365&forum_id=2Elisa#49496770)

In a plot twist no one saw coming, Beijing is now restricting access to Nvidia’s ultra-powerful H200 chips right after Trump cleared the way for them to be exported to China.

Yes, you read that right: the U.S. just loosened the leash, and China yanked it tighter.

The H200 is Nvidia’s next-gen AI beast with faster memory, more compute, and exactly the kind of chip that supercharges everything from LLMs to military-grade surveillance systems.

So why would Beijing block its own companies from buying it?

Simple: Control. Strategy. Paranoia. Maybe all three.

This could be China trying to:

Push domestic alternatives

Tighten grip on foreign tech use

Avoid dependency on U.S. technology and imports

Whatever the reason, it’s a signal: China’s not just reacting to U.S. policy anymore, it’s playing offense in the AI cold war.

Tech decoupling isn’t just happening.

It’s accelerating, from both sides.

Source: Financial Times

https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1998389670456262792?s=20

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5808365&forum_id=2Elisa#49496822)

https://x.com/michaelsobolik/status/1998238975803195818?s=20

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5808365&forum_id=2Elisa#49496828)