Trump’s Nvidia Shift Hands Xi an Opening on Security Curbs (2)

Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia Corp. to sell advanced chips to China marks more than just a shift in US tech policy. It also raises questions about how far he’ll go to steady ties with Xi Jinping.

The Republican leader granted America’s most-valuable company permission on Tuesday to export its high-end H200 chip to China, watering down years of US national security safeguards. While he pledged Nvidia’s top products would remain off bounds, the move gives China access to semiconductors at least a generation ahead of its best technology.

Justifying that decision, Trump vowed to simultaneously “protect ...