U.S.-China tariff delay, chip sales deal, and South China Sea tensions

Washington and Beijing extend tariff deadline, Trump allows Nvidia and AMD to sell chips under a revenue-sharing model, and a Chinese navy ship collides with its own coast guard near Scarborough Shoal

Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly China brief.

Washington and Beijing agreed this week to delay by another 90 days reciprocal higher tariffs, extending the deadline to November 10.

Despite concerns that it might accelerate Beijing’s technological capabilities—and in a questionable arrangement (wasn’t the goal to protect national security?)—Trump has agreed to let Nvidia and AMD sell some chips to China, provided the two companies pay 15% of their revenues to the U.S. government, a model U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said could be used in other industries.

On the PRC side, even as it pushes for a relaxation in high-bandwidth memory chip export controls, news emerged that it isn’t too happy with companies relying on American chips. According to Reuters, “Chinese officials asked companies why they needed to buy Nvidia chips when they could purchase from domestic suppliers.” Adding to Beijing’s security concerns, reports indicate that U.S. authorities are using l…