Trump Seen Prioritizing Talks with China over Ties with Japan

Washington, Dec. 10 (Jiji Press)--The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be prioritizing practical interests regarding U.S.-made chips, in a recent move that apparently considers China, while sidelining its ties with Japan, an ally of the United States.

On Monday, Trump announced in a social media post that the U.S. government will allow the exports of U.S. semiconductor giant Nvidia Corp.'s H200 artificial intelligence chips to China, saying, “(Chinese) President Xi (Jinping) responded positively!”

Both Trump during his first term in office and his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden, had imposed stringent restrictions on chip exports to China due to national security concerns that related technologies may be converted for military use.

Keeping a close eye on any technology leaks to the Chinese side, the U.S. government has pressed its allies, notably Japan and the Netherlands, which both have strengths in chip manufacturing equipment, to beef up their export controls.

Trump, however, in his latest move allowed U.S. chip exports to China, on the condition that 25 pct of sales revenues go to the U.S. government.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]