Trump allowed the export of Nvidia chips to China: what this means for Ukraine.

According to Vox: There is a lot to say about the second term of the Trump administration, but it always reminds me of parts of the Constitution that I had forgotten were there.

For example, Clause 5 of Article I, Section 9 states that 'No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.' This is known as the export clause, which should not be confused with the import-export clause (Article I, Section 10, Clause 2). The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, most recently in the 1996 case 'U.S. v. IBM', that this clause prohibits Congress and the states from imposing taxes on goods exported from one state to another or from the U.S. to foreign countries.

This story was first featured in the Future Perfect newsletter.

When AMD is included in the agreement, in practice, the artificial intelligence chips referred to in the agreement are made by Nvidia - and the main chip in question is the H20.

Critics saw this as an attempt to adhere to the letter of export restrictions while violating their spirit. This still meant that Nvidia exported highly useful, powerful chips to Chinese firms that could use them to catch up or overtake American companies - exactly what the Biden administration attempted to avoid. In April, the Trump administration apparently agreed when it sent a letter to Nvidia, stating that it would not receive licenses to export the H20 to China.

In the context of the second term of the Trump administration, attention is drawn to the Constitution, which states that there is no right to tax exported goods. The policy of export restrictions in the field of artificial intelligence has also become a debated topic due to attempts to adhere to the rules without violating their spirit.