According to an October 9th Financial Times report, Chinese customs authorities have launched a full-scale crackdown on Nvidia chip shipments. The report states that enforcement teams have been deployed at major ports to inspect data center hardware, with a particular focus on Nvidia's H20 and RTX 6000D chips—chips designed to comply with US export controls but now under renewed scrutiny from Beijing.
The inspections, which began in recent weeks, are reportedly being coordinated by China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC), with assistance from customs officials. The campaign initially targeted the H20 and RTX 6000D but has since expanded to include "all advanced semiconductor products." The Financial Times states that officials are focused on preventing smuggled US chips from entering domestic data centers. Nvidia declined to comment when contacted by Tom's Hardware.
China's pressure on the H20 is particularly noteworthy. H20, which announced a tailored workaround last year to avoid violating Washington's updated export rules, only recently began volume shipments to Chinese server OEMs. Companies like ByteDance and Alibaba were reportedly told to halt further H20 orders in mid-September, and now some or all shipments are undoubtedly on hold or blocked indefinitely.
These inspections are likely to hit China's gray and refurbished market, which relies on repurposed A100 and H100 boards as the H20 pipeline tightens, with underground repair shops servicing hundreds of accelerators monthly. The Financial Times previously reported that at least $1 billion worth of high-end Nvidia processors entered the US in the three months after the US tightened regulations, often through indirect routes. Customs crackdowns could directly target this pipeline.
Meanwhile, China's domestic roadmap is real but uneven. China's decision to begin cracking down on imports may reflect growing confidence in its domestic hardware, but while domestic accelerator production in Chinese fabs is ramping up, bottlenecks in HBM supply and overall fab capacity remain. This suggests recent friction for data center operators, with further delays in inbound shipments of the H20 RTX 6000D—which will likely never reach them—and a slower-than-expected rollout of domestic chips.
The H20 itself remains precarious. Nvidia has told some suppliers to pause H20-related work amid evolving regulations while it explores a successor that complies with US controls. If that successor fails or sees limited shipments, the Chinese crackdown will effectively double the effect, reducing Nvidia's legal avenues and making the gray market environment more challenging.