Forbidden Frites

What’s going on?

The US is making it even harder for China to get its hands on tantalizing American chips, according to recent news.

What does this mean?

The US announced a swathe of controls designed to limit China’s access to advanced chips around a year ago, but it’s not stopping there. Concerned that China’s on a mission to beef up its military arsenal using stateside tech, the US just clamped down even harder on exporting AI-compatible graphics chips and the complex chipmaking machines that can churn them out. But it might not be that easy: Chinese firms seem to have been getting their hands on Uncle Sam’s finest tech by routing it through other countries, and America’s clocked on.

Why should I care?

For markets: Nvidia could be collateral.

US-based Nvidia’s been riding the AI wave all the way to the bank, giving its shareholders something to rave about. But these tighter chip controls could be a dampener: China accounts for 20 to 25% of Nvidia’s data center revenue, and Chinese firms may also have plumped up sales by stocking up in fear of even tighter restrictions. And sure, as a top dog in the tech world, Nvidia can probably rely on businesses elsewhere to keep it coasting. But if its Chinese buyers drop off for even a month or two, the short-term impact could tip the firm’s stock price off its podium.

The bigger picture: The world’s a complicated place.

Tensions between the US and China are just a fraction of the geopolitical risks that today’s investors have to contend with. But remember, stock markets tend to wrangle their way through even the most testing environments if you give them enough time. So stay focused on the long-term outlook rather than current market turmoil, and make sure your portfolio’s diversified enough to hold its own throughout heightened volatility.

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Originally Posted October 16, 2023 – Forbidden Frites