Video: Kaine Slams Trump’s Reckless & Corrupt Decision to Allow Nvidia to Sell Advanced Chips to China
FULL VIDEO OF KAINE’S SPEECH IS AVAILABLE HERE.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, spoke on the Senate floor sounding the alarm about the Trump Administration’s dangerous decision to allow Nvidia to sell advanced H200 chips to Chinese commercial customers and the threat this poses to U.S. national security. Kaine has spoken out about how this sale would allow China to use H200 chips to erode America’s advantage in artificial intelligence (AI), expand Chinese military capabilities, and threaten the U.S. and our allies.
“I rise today to express deep concern and frustration over President Trump’s decision to approve the sale of advanced Nvidia H200 AI chips to the People’s Republic of China,” said Kaine. “I am worried that the transfer of these chips will compromise U.S. security and enable the People’s Republic of China to catch up in one area where the U.S. has a significant and very qualitative advantage over the PRC.”
“For decades, under administrations of both parties, the United States has adhered to a simple principle: we do not sell our most advanced security-critical technology to adversaries. That principle exists for a reason,” Kaine said.
“Advanced semiconductors like Nvidia's H200 chip are not consumer gadgets. They're matters of national security. They're the foundation of the future of warfare. They are our edge—the United States’ edge in the development of the technologies of the future.” Kaine continued, “Right now, that future is up for grabs.”
“We protect our chips because they preserve America's advantage in space, cyberspace and importantly, nuclear deterrence,” Kaine said. “The H200 is used to train and deploy frontier AI systems—systems that U.S. national security agencies have long warned have numerous military and intelligence applications.”
“Even the CEO of China’s leading AI firm has admitted publicly that the access to advanced chips is their biggest bottleneck,” continued Kaine. “President Trump is now solving this problem for China.”
“The Administration claims that in exchange … the United States will receive a share of the revenue,” said Kaine. “…But that admission should alarm us. Decisions that were once made purely on our national security priorities are now apparently up for sale, and the Administration’s justification that this will somehow keep China hooked on U.S. technology doesn’t withstand normal scrutiny… They’ll take these chips, reverse engineer them, and produce their own, and wipe out the edge that we now have with China in this critical defense technology.”
“I’m very, very nervous that the President is bartering away this edge and may barter away other edges to those who are lobbying and contributing to him. And this is a pattern we’ve seen—transactional politics jeopardizing our security,” Kaine said. “China is reaping … the rewards of this. They're already leading or rapidly catching up in so many critical industries. Why would we give up an edge in this one? The American people are watching this play out. They're particularly concerned about China, about China's advances, and about [the United States] giving up the edge we have over China in this key area.”
Kaine concluded, “That’s why I’ve signed on with many in this body… to Senators Ricketts and Coons’ SAFE Chips Act, which would insist upon rigorous export controls over these chips, particularly as they might be transferred to China, the People’s Republic of North Korea, Iran, and Russia… I urge my colleagues to get on board with this legislation and make sure that we don’t harm our national security by transferring technologies of such incredible importance to our country.”
Last week, in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Kaine expressed his concern regarding the Nvidia sale and pressed witnesses on whether the State Department, Department of Defense, and other national security agencies should have more of a role to play in this decision. Kaine also strongly supports the Secure and Feasible Exports (SAFE) of Chips Act of 2025, bipartisan legislation that would codify into law current limitations and controls for advanced AI chip sales to foreign adversaries.
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