According to US Trade Representative Greer, chip export controls did not emerge as a significant issue during discussions in Beijing.

      Greer informed Bloomberg TV that chip controls were not a point of discussion during the bilateral meetings, even as Reuters reported that the Trump administration approved Nvidia H200 sales to several Chinese companies following the meeting with Xi. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated on Friday that semiconductor export controls did not dominate this week's US-China meetings in Beijing. “This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting,” he remarked, adding, “We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting.”

      This assertion is notable for the details it omits. In the days leading up to the summit, China's Ministry of Commerce had been publicly criticizing the MATCH Act, US legislation aimed at tightening export controls on chipmaking equipment and requiring the Netherlands and Japan to align with a deadline of 150 days. Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian interpreted this as proof of Washington’s “overstretching of national security” and “malicious blocking and suppression.” By Friday, it appeared that these concerns had not made it onto the agenda.

      However, a partial commercial concession did emerge. Reuters separately disclosed that shortly after Trump met with Xi on Thursday, Washington approved the sale of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to several prominent Chinese tech companies—a move that had technically been possible since January when the Trump administration shifted H200 and AMD MI325X reviews from a presumption of denial to case-by-case evaluations.

      Greer indicated to Bloomberg that any decision to import the H200 chips would be a “sovereign decision” for China, placing the political responsibility for any additional purchases on Beijing. This framing is significant as it highlights a divide between the executive branch and Congress on chip policy. The MATCH Act, sponsored in the House by Representative Michael Baumgartner, aims to tighten export rules that Greer’s office is currently not aggressively pursuing at the bilateral level.

      During the spring, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been engaging in discussions regarding AI-system access agreements with allies in Tokyo and London, while the legislative branch is moving in a different direction concerning the same product categories. Jensen Huang's inclusion in Trump's Beijing delegation seems to affirm this disconnection. He joined the delegation later after initially being excluded, coming along on the trip in Alaska following a call from Trump.

      The clearances for the H200 chips shortly after the summit likely would not have occurred without Huang’s arguments in the discussions, which have consistently emphasized that conceding the Chinese AI sector to Huawei would lead to a permanent loss of the US's software ecosystem advantage.

      Greer's interview also highlighted less prominent achievements; he mentioned “progress” regarding Chinese purchases of American agricultural products, although he expressed caution regarding tariff certainty. On security, he stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for China, linking the Iran conflict to trade discussions and implying Beijing's interest in a resolution due to its crude oil supply concerns.

      The diminished focus on chip controls does not indicate a withdrawal from Washington. The MATCH Act continues to progress, and Order No. 834, China’s supply-chain security regulation from April, remains active, allowing for retaliatory measures through over 15 agencies.

      The administration's January easing of the H200 review process was intended to be calibrated rather than structural, and the recent Nvidia approvals are similarly calibrated rather than defining in scale. Greer’s remarks suggest that the politically sensitive discussions that Beijing expected to have did not take place at the summit. Instead, these discussions are occurring between Congress, the Treasury, and the licensing offices at the Commerce Department.

      The next significant step in chip policy from the administration will be the House's consideration of the MATCH Act, the timing of which has yet to be determined. According to Greer, Beijing’s reaction will not be coordinated through the summit approach.