U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week, marking the first visit by a sitting U.S. president in nearly a decade. The White House has invited more than a dozen U.S. executives to join the trip, including Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon, Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook, and Boeing's Kelly Ortberg. Notably absent from the delegation is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, despite his expressed interest in joining and his recent efforts to maintain ties with China, a market that previously accounted for at least a fifth of Nvidia's data center revenue [1].
Nvidia's exclusion comes as the company faces ongoing hurdles in selling its most advanced chips to China, due to tighter U.S. restrictions imposed over the past four years. In February, Nvidia stated that U.S.-government-approved versions of its chips had not yet been allowed into China, and experts told CNBC that the company's China sales are unlikely to recover soon [1]. Hao Hong, chief investment officer at Lotus Asset Management, commented that there would be "very little" for Nvidia to gain from Huang's participation in the delegation, as it is highly unlikely that the Trump administration would approve sales of Nvidia's more advanced chips to China. Hong further noted that technology "decoupling" between the U.S. and China is expected to increase, with the tech rivalry becoming a key determinant in global geopolitics [1].
Boeing's Kelly Ortberg is part of the delegation, as the U.S. planemaker is expected to secure its first major Chinese order in years, highlighting the potential for positive outcomes for some U.S. companies during the visit. However, Nvidia did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment regarding Huang's absence [1].
Huang told CNBC's Jim Cramer last week that it would be a privilege and a great honor to represent the United States if invited, but deferred to the president's discretion on announcements related to the trip [1].
CONCLUSION
Nvidia's absence from Trump's China delegation underscores the ongoing challenges the company faces in the Chinese market due to U.S. export restrictions. While other U.S. companies may benefit from the visit, experts suggest that Nvidia's prospects for recovering its China sales remain dim, and technology decoupling between the U.S. and China is likely to intensify. The market takeaway is cautious, with limited optimism for Nvidia's near-term China business outlook.