Wyden and Neal Open Probe Into Trump's 25% Tariff on Nvidia H200 China Sales, Tell Commerce to Preserve Records

Since Jensen Huang's resignation as Nvidia CEO on Thursday, Nov. 12, scrutiny has widened from the company to the way the Trump administration approved its chip sales to China. That same day, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) sent Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a letter opening an inquiry and ordering records preserved.

Wyden is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. Neal holds the same position on House Ways and Means. As the minority, they can ask questions but cannot compel answers. Both are in line to lead their committees when Democrats take control of Congress in January.

How the H200 arrangement worked

The letter describes a three-step structure. Nvidia's Taiwan-made H200 chips would be imported into the United States for a security review. Trump would then impose a 25% tariff under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 as they entered the country. Commerce would then issue an export license so the chips could be sold to Chinese buyers.

Wyden and Neal call this "an unconstitutional export tax system." In the letter's words, it is an "ostensible attempt to mask an unconstitutional export tax as a national security tariff action—benefitting both Nvidia and the Chinese government."

They argue that Congress wrote Section 232 to let a president act against imports that threaten national security. In their view, Trump's use of it "appears to have done the opposite, undermining U.S. national security and putting Americans at risk."

The revenue-sharing concept itself is not new. In August 2025, Nvidia and AMD agreed to give the U.S. government 15% of their China chip revenue in exchange for export licenses. The 25% cut on H200 chips was announced in December 2025. The letter says Lutnick sent Trump a Section 232 report on Dec. 22, 2025, and asks that it be preserved.

What the lawmakers want preserved

The preservation request covers Commerce's Section 232 semiconductor-import investigation and the resulting tariffs. It also covers the review and approval of Nvidia's export license applications. It reaches communications with or about Nvidia, Huang, and their agents or representatives, both existing and future.

The letter warns that federal criminal law bars destroying records relevant to a congressional investigation.

The due-diligence questions

The lawmakers cite a New York Times report that Commerce approved dozens of Chinese firms to handle H200 chips, some with ties to companies under national-security sanctions. They also cite press reports that approvals went to companies with no physical presence at their listed addresses.

"There appears to be a profound lack of due diligence in Commerce's process for approving these Chinese buyers of Nvidia chips," Wyden and Neal wrote.

The New York Times also reported that Commerce paused its investigation into Megaspeed, the Singapore-based Nvidia customer, after outreach from Nvidia, and handed the matter to the Justice Department. Neither agency has confirmed that, and the Justice Department declined to comment. Alice Huang, the woman with whom Jensen Huang admitted an affair, was a Megaspeed executive. She is suspected of working as a Chinese intelligence asset. Those are allegations, and no charges have been announced.

The letter also repeats the New York Times account that Trump was briefed last fall on U.S. intelligence indicating Alice Huang was funneling information to the Chinese government and helping China get advanced Nvidia chips. The Times reported that Trump "took no action" in response. According to press reports cited by the lawmakers, Lutnick was briefed as well. The letter does not offer its own evidence of what either man was told.

The donation question

Wyden and Neal say Trump approved the H200 exports "only after Mr. Huang and Nvidia directed at least $26 million toward President Trump's personal priorities such as the White House ballroom." The letter raises the donations as a question about whether they shaped the approval. It does not say a quid pro quo has been proven, and no investigation or charge on that point has been announced.

The approval also came after the alleged intelligence briefing, according to the letter's timeline. The letter does not say what the administration's reasoning was.

What happens next

Huang has agreed to testify. House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said Thursday that Huang will appear before his committee before the Thanksgiving break, though scheduling is still being negotiated. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters oversight follow-up "would make sense because of the nature of the association and the governments and the national security interests that we're talking about."

That leaves a split in the oversight. Republican-led panels are moving first, with the power to schedule hearings. The Wyden-Neal inquiry has only a records-preservation demand until the new Congress convenes in January. Whether Commerce answers the letter, and what the preserved records show about how the Megaspeed probe was paused, will determine what those committees can do once they hold subpoena power.