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Investing.com -- U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated that President Donald Trump will personally decide whether to allow Nvidia to sell its advanced H200 chips to China, as trade negotiations between the United States and European Union continue in Brussels.
Speaking from Europe, Lutnick described the Nvidia decision as sitting "right on the desk of Donald Trump," with the president weighing input from various advisers including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who has advocated for the sales.
"He’s going to decide whether we go forward with that or not and we will execute it however he decides to go forward," Lutnick said, framing the decision as a choice between allowing China to use American technology or competing separately in the AI race.
The Commerce Secretary expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold the administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for imposing tariffs, after attending oral arguments. "I left that day feeling very confident that we and the president was going to prevail on these IEEPA tariffs," he said.
Lutnick emphasized that even if the court ruled against the administration, the president has "lots of other authorities" including Sections 232, 301, and 338 to implement tariffs.
Regarding ongoing EU-US trade talks, Lutnick indicated that "everything is on the table" in discussions with the EU, which he called "a great partner" with 450 million people and a $20 trillion economy.
The negotiations involve potential concessions where the EU would reconsider its digital regulations to accommodate American technology companies, while the U.S. would offer concessions on steel and aluminum tariffs.
"We think it is very important that they understand our digital companies," Lutnick said, noting that the EU is not receiving the same level of investment as the United States, where tech companies are investing trillions in data centers.
Lutnick suggested that if European regulators "take their foot off the regulatory statement," American companies could build data centers in Europe, potentially bringing "hundreds of billions, possibly $1 trillion of investment" from U.S. tech companies.
The Commerce Secretary also emphasized the Trump administration’s focus on affordability, stating they are "going through every line" to ensure affordability across the consumer landscape while also working to raise incomes.