Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Monday evening that President Trump’s unusual agreement with major chipmakers Nvidia and AMD to share some of their revenue from chip sales in China is “not a good deal.”
“We’ve got to realize we’re in an intellectual war, a technology war with China, and we’re in an AI [artificial intelligence] competition,” Bacon said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill” with host Chris Stirewalt. “Having NVIDIA providing this technology to China is a mistake.”
“I was weary of doing the Chips Act, because that was a $270 billion giveaway to one industry, and now we’re seeing some of this stuff’s going to China,” the lawmaker, who is not running for reelection and has often criticized Trump and some of his Cabinet members, continued. “Chris, I oppose it. Taiwan’s our friend.”
He added, “We have to help protect them, because they’re where most of this high technology is at. I’d like to encourage you coming here, but China getting our chips is not a good deal.”
Both Nvidia and AMD reached a deal with the Trump administration to share 15 percent of their revenue generated from sales of advanced AI chips to Beijing to secure their export licenses.
AMD will share 15 percent of its revenue from MI308 chip sales, while Nvidia will share the same portion from selling H20 chips in China.
The agreement came after Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang met with the president at the White House last week, according to multiple news outlets. The agreement has raised constitutional questions among experts.
“It’s bizarre in many respects and pretty troubling because Congress didn’t have anything to say about this,” said Gary Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“It’s just the president’s own negotiating with the individual companies,” he continued. “That’s not how historically we’ve done business in this country.”
The analysis also comes as Trump signed an executive order Monday extending his pause of “reciprocal” tariffs on China by another 90 days.
