Trump's Nvidia deal puts U.S. security at risk

Firm forking over part of its chip sales to China is both scary and unconstitutional.

- MICHAEL HILTZIK COLUMNIST

ANDREW HARNIK Getty Images NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang meets President Trump not long before reaching a deal to lift a government export ban on a key Nvidia chip.

One thing that can be said about Donald Trump's transactional approach to policymaking is that, as destructive as it might be to our economic health, it gives business leaders clear options to get what they want out of the White House.

The latest casein-point are the deals struck by chipmakers Nvidia and AMD to secure licenses to export their products to China. The White House named the price — 15% of their revenues from such sales — and the companies assented willingly.

Never mind that the exports originally had been banned — by the Biden administration and Trump himself — because of national security concerns.

Never mind that the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits charging any tax or duty on exports.

Never mind that a stack of U.S. laws, including the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, which Trump signed, don't provide a pay-to-play escape clause from export restrictions.

Never mind that the exports may strengthen the domestic industry and even the military of China, a country that has been the consistent target of Trump trade policies.

Despite all that, Trump treated the deals as a win for the U.S. Explaining his side of the conversation when Nvidia asked for relief from the export ban, he related, "I said, 'If I'm going to do that, I want you to pay us as a country something, because I'm giving you a release.'"

Under the circumstances, it shouldn't be surprising that some trade professionals and investors see something corrupt in the arrangements. Among them is Christopher Padilla, an export control official under George W. Bush, who told the Washington Post: "Export controls are in place to protect national security, not raise revenue for the government. This arrangement seems like bribery or blackmail, or both."