Trump Drags Down Corporate America

Nvidia's otherwise stellar earnings this week, were clouded by just one thing: export controls, which were overturned only after the company agreed to give a 15% cut of China chip sales back to Uncle Sam.

"It's the latest example of President Trump inserting himself into the private sector as chairman of all boards, regardless of the impact that has on free markets." says Axios.

Nvidia reported zero sales of its H20 chips to China for the quarter. CEO Jensen Huang said China is an untapped market representing a "$50 billion opportunity” but China is imposing restrictions on H20 chips as part of a tariff retaliation.

Nvidia's CFO added that the company could make up to $5 billion more next quarter if restrictions were lifted.

Meanwhile, the 15% revenue split with Uncle Sam on exports China, is riddled with confusion.

In a filing, the Nvidia wrote that any revenue split with the government "may subject us to litigation, increase our costs, and harm our competitive position and benefit competitors that are not subject to such arrangements.”  The Trump administration is harming Nvidia's competitive advantage, according to the filing.

In reality, there are plenty of other examples this year of the president telling businesses how to do business:

Trump said Intel's CEO should resign then the U.S. government took a 10% stake in the company.

Apple was squeezed for another $100 billion investment commitment to avoid huge tariffs for not making its phones in the U.S.

U.S. Steel had to hand over a golden share to the president's control to reverse the rejection of its sale to Nippon Steel.

The administration has publicly discussed taking government stakes in major defense firms, including Lockheed Martin, citing national security rationales and the sector’s heavy reliance on federal contracts.

Business interests say the problem is clarity, something in short supply among several policy changes.

"Businesses need certainty for planning," Neil Bradley, chief policy officer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told Axios recently. "That's why they like clear rules of the road.”

It's hard to be certain, or plan for the future, if you don't know when or how the president of the United States will turn the might of the government against you.

Even more so now many of the tariffs imposed by Trump have been declared illegal. The way forward is now more confused than ever … Trump's tariffs may be lifted in October ...

Article originally from Axios, with additional notes from Perplexity AI and The Saturday Economist AI