Trump to take cut of sales from world's biggest company
The US government will receive 15pc of Nvidia's revenues generated in China as part of an agreement to unlock export licences for their technology.
The unprecedented pact was struck with the White House last week after months of lobbying by Jensen Huang, the Nvidia chief executive, as first reported by the Financial Times.
A spokesman for Nvidia said: 'We follow the rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. While we haven't shipped H20 [chips] to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide.'
It comes after Mr Trump barred sales of Nvidia's H20 technology in China earlier this year to boost his tit-for-tat trade war with Beijing, wiping billions of dollars from the $4tn (£3tn) company's value in the process.
However, an apparent breakthrough has now been reached following a quid pro quo with the White House, which will also apply to rival chip giant AMD.
Such an arrangement is a first for a US company as businesses seek to navigate Mr Trump's volatile trade war.
The deal is significant for Nvidia because of the importance of the Chinese market, where this year it expects to sell $15bn of its latest chips.
However, it has already drawn scrutiny from critics.
Stephen Olson, a former US trade negotiator, told Bloomberg: 'To call this unusual or unprecedented would be a staggering understatement.
'What we are seeing is, in effect, the monetisation of US trade policy in which US companies must pay the US government for permission to export. If that's the case, we've entered into a new and dangerous world.'
Peter Harrell, a former White House economics adviser under Joe Biden, added: 'The US constitution flatly forbids export taxes.
'Regardless of whether you think Nvidia should be able to sell H20s in China, charging a fee in exchange for relaxing national security export controls is a terrible precedent.'
While the Nvidia deal is the first of its kind, the White House has previously allowed companies to avoid tariffs if they agreed to boost US manufacturing or create jobs in America.
Last week, Mr Trump announced 100pc tariffs on foreign microchip imports.
However, businesses, including Apple and Taiwan's TSMC, were handed exemptions. Apple agreed to invest $100bn (£743bn) in US industry while TSMC has pledged to open new factories.
The Nvidia agreement comes as a truce on tariffs between the US and China is set to expire on Tuesday.
As well as sparking scrutiny in America, the export agreement has also raised national security concerns in Beijing.
China's state broadcaster recently questioned whether Nvidia's chips are 'safe', while China's internet regulator last month grilled Nvidia executives over the security of its technology.
Nvidia has rejected any concerns, insisting last week that: 'There are no back doors in Nvidia chips. No kill switches. No spyware.'
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