In today's world, countries are actively participating in a technology race. The development of artificial intelligence plays a special role, which is impossible without advanced chips. The world's largest chip developer is the American company Nvidia, which is why the US government is restricting the supply of semiconductor technology to China in an effort to curb the development of its main competitor in the battle for leadership in the field of AI. Europe is also seeking to restrict China's access to its chips. The international media has dubbed this confrontation the “chip war.” It has been going on for several years and is far from over.
However, a new round of conflict began at the end of last year. US President Donald Trump allowed China to purchase Nvidia H200 AI chips. At the same time, a Dutch court took away the Chinese owner of chip manufacturer Nexperia BV, which intensified the battle for technology in Europe.
Finam explains where the “chip war” between the US, Europe, and China will lead in 2026.
The ban on chip supplies to Huawei as the trigger for war
Although the rivalry between the US and China in various fields has been going on for decades, the “chip war” began in May 2020, when the US Department of Commerce banned companies using American technology from developing or manufacturing semiconductors for the Chinese technology giant Huawei. This led to major chip manufacturers, including Taiwanese company TCMS, being forced to abandon cooperation with Huawei in order not to lose access to critical tools and markets.
As a result, Huawei began developing and manufacturing its own high-tech chips. In April 2025, it was announced that the Chinese company would release an alternative to Nvidia's AI chips - Ascend 910C. They run on Huawei's own technology, which, according to the developers, can compete with Nvidia chips in terms of performance.
Why did Trump allow Nvidia chips to be shipped to China?
The next important milestone in the confrontation came in October 2022, when the US Bureau of Industry and Security imposed export controls on semiconductor equipment and related technologies. In addition, the agency expanded the Export Administration Regulations, imposing restrictions on certain computing devices intended for China, and tightened restrictions on 28 Chinese organizations included in the list. In October 2023, the list was expanded. This made advanced American chips unavailable to China.
However, Nvidia found a way to circumvent export restrictions by releasing a special H20 chip for the Chinese market. It is significantly weaker than its American counterparts and is slow to work with artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, in 2024, it brought Nvidia $15 billion in profits. Beijing advised Chinese companies to avoid it and focus on purchasing locally produced alternatives. In September 2025, the Chinese authorities even banned tech giants ByteDance and Alibaba from buying Nvidia chips intended for the Chinese market.
And then, in December 2025, Donald Trump allowed Nvidia to supply China with the more powerful H200 chip. It went into mass production in the US in 2024 and contributed to the accelerated spread of computers with artificial intelligence. In return, the US government wants to receive 25% of Chinese chip sales. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that demand for the new chips from Chinese companies is very high. However, according to The Information, citing two sources familiar with the situation, the Chinese government has asked some technology companies to temporarily suspend plans to purchase Nvidia H200 AI chips.
A representative of the Chinese Embassy in the US told Reuters that China intends to “base its national development on its own strengths,” but is ready to maintain “dialogue and cooperation” to ensure the stability of the supply chain. Quartz experts believe that Beijing will only allow certain companies that can prove they need American technology for development to purchase Nvidia chips. Most Chinese companies will continue to use local alternatives from Huawei and Baidu.
Critics of the policy of export restrictions on technology to China have stated that the US has seen the Chinese chip market develop rapidly without the participation of American technology and is now seeking to curb Chinese growth by returning its own less powerful chips to the Chinese market. In their opinion, China's protectionist policy on semiconductors is justified, and the US is losing the “chip war” because it has failed to slow down the development of AI technologies in China.
Another opinion is that of Jensen Huang, who has recently become closer to Trump and does not want to lose the Chinese market, which is profitable for Nvidia. At the same time, the American leader is confident that everything is under control, as the Chinese still do not have access to advanced US chips. Supporters of this theory believe that the US continues to lead both the global technology race and the “chip war” with China.
On the one hand, the US is liberalizing the race, but on the other, according to Bloomberg, Asian bankers still fear US scrutiny of loans related to chips and China. For example, a loan for Silicon Valley-based PaleBlueDot AI, which wanted to borrow about $300 million to purchase advanced Nvidia chips for use in Japan, has not yet been approved. If successful, the technology will be used in a Tokyo data center, and the end user will be Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese social media platform.
The battle for chips in the Netherlands
The “chip war” is also in full swing in Europe. In October 2025, a Dutch court seized chip manufacturer Nexperia BV from its Chinese owner, Wingtech Technology, 30% of whose shares are owned by entities close to the Chinese government.
Nexperia is a leading supplier of low-power automotive chips to the European market. Its headquarters are located in the Netherlands, and its main production site is in Guangdong Province, China. It is owned by the local company Wingtech Technology. Last year, a court in Amsterdam ruled to transfer Wingtech's ownership rights to a trust in the Netherlands due to allegations of illegal technology transfer from Europe to China. On the same grounds, the court removed Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng from his position as CEO of Nexperia. Wingtech denies the allegations and intends to appeal the ruling in the Dutch Supreme Court.
The Dutch and Chinese governments have already intervened in the case. The Netherlands has introduced supervisory powers to ensure national security, while Beijing has restricted Nexperia's exports from China.
Due to the lawsuit and the halt in Chinese exports, automakers faced a shortage of Nexperia chips. Honda Motor Co. suspended production at several plants, while Volkswagen AG and other companies were forced to urgently seek alternatives. The largest supplier of spare parts, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, reduced its production volumes.
Experts believe that even if one or both Nexperia companies survive the legal disputes or find a way to reach an agreement, the brand's reputation will be damaged, and it will not be easy to restore it. The decision in the Nexperia case could disrupt supply chains in the automotive industry and hit European car manufacturers. This is another major downside of the “chip war” between countries.
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