Is Trump Paving the Way for a Grand Bargain with China on Tech?

Even as US President Donald Trump upends China’s factory floors, he seems to be laying the ground for an easing in the tech war. In a reversal this week, the White House told chipmaker Nvidia it could soon resume sales of its less advanced China-focused H20 artificial intelligence accelerator. AMD received similar assurances from the US Commerce Department.

Only a few years ago, the Biden administration had declared export controls a “new strategic asset” to help the US maintain “as large a lead as possible” over China in advanced technology. Trump’s shift in strategy, which angered China hawks in Washington, raises a key question as he sets the stage for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year: how far will the US go in rolling back a range of measures restricting business between the world’s biggest economies imposed in the name of national security?