Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the US’s reversal of restrictions on sales of chips to China followed recent trade negotiations with Beijing over rare earths. President Donald Trump curbed exports of Nvidia’s H2O artificial intelligence chips to China in April as part of an escalation of his trade war with Beijing.

A backroom political deal may have just unlocked billions in frozen AI chip sales to China, with whispers linking Howard Lutnick's Washington connections to Nvidia's sudden pathway back into the world's second-largest economy.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained the Trump administration's turnabout in assuring Nvidia that it [can sell its H20 artificial-intelligence chip](

The Trump administration has dialed back aggressive measures against China and reversed its position on technology controls as the president angles for a Chinese trip later this year.

Critics have slammed the White House's anticipated move to loosen AI chip exports as ceding leverage to the U.S. rival.