NVIDIA is under anti-monopoly investigation in China, and the US Treasury Secretary expressed disappointment to China.

As the U.S. and China are conducting trade negotiations in Madrid, Spain, Chinese regulatory authorities suddenly launched an antitrust investigation against NVIDIA (, adding uncertainty to discussions originally focused on tariffs and global economic issues.

The background of the merger hides a subplot, and China demands stable supply.

NVIDIA spent about $7 billion in 2020 to acquire the network equipment vendor Mellanox Technologies. At that time, the transaction received approval from regulatory authorities in multiple countries around the world, including China. Although China allowed the deal to proceed, it came with additional conditions:

“To continue to stably supply chips to China and treat Chinese customers equally.”

However, the situation took a sharp turn later, as the U.S. government prohibited NVIDIA from selling its most advanced AI chip, the H100, to China on national security grounds. To comply with the regulations, NVIDIA had to modify the chip design twice, finding ways to continue shipping within the regulations and providing the modified chip H20.

Investigate Nvidia on the grounds of violating antitrust laws.

As of September 2025, the Chinese government suddenly launched an investigation into this merger case. On September 17, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China determined that NVIDIA violated antitrust laws and will conduct further investigation. As a result, NVIDIA may face a fine of up to 10% of its annual revenue.

Once the news broke, Nvidia's stock price fell nearly 2% before stabilizing, while American chipmaker Texas Instruments also dropped by 2.9%. Nvidia issued a statement at the first opportunity emphasizing that the company's actions fully comply with regulations and that it will continue to cooperate with governments to examine the impact of export controls on market competition.

The news comes at a time when US-China negotiations are ongoing, and the atmosphere between both sides is awkward.

Just as the US-China trade negotiations were taking place in Madrid, Spain, from September 16 to September 17, this ruling happened to be announced the next morning. On the first day of negotiations, both sides had already talked for nearly six hours, discussing core issues such as the global economy and tariffs.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ) stated that the news suddenly emerged on the morning of the second day of negotiations. The U.S. representatives immediately responded to the Chinese side upon learning of it, but emphasized that this matter “has no direct relation” to the negotiation process. He admitted that he was not sure whether the Chinese negotiating representatives were aware of it in advance.

( Treasury Secretary Bessent: The Fed chair selection process has begun, and NVIDIA's H20 unblocking is a bargaining chip in US-China negotiations )

The US-China technology war is likely to continue to escalate.

As for whether this antitrust ruling will affect the content of the US-China negotiations, there is currently no conclusion. However, it is certain that NVIDIA, as the leader in AI core chips, has long been the focus of the technological and economic competition between the US and China.

Additionally, the Chinese authorities have recently asked local companies to avoid purchasing NVIDIA H20 chips, also citing security concerns. These actions have attracted more attention from the outside world, and NVIDIA's upcoming strategy in the Chinese market is likely to face greater challenges.

( Bloomberg: China calls on companies to boycott Nvidia's H20 chips, Trump faces obstacles in restarting sales )

This article discusses how NVIDIA is being subjected to an antitrust investigation in China, and the U.S. Treasury Secretary expressed disappointment towards China. It first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.