Musk and Cook losing favour, Nvidia CEO rises as Trump-Xi bridge to ease US-China strain

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have an unlikely mediator who has been working quietly as a bridge between two competing superpowers: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Even though Trump has publicly fawned over Xi for years, the US-China relationship is far from pleasant. Soon after assuming office, Trump unleashed a trade war on China and China retaliated forcefully — so much so that China forced Trump to blink by leveraging the near-monopoly over global rare earths’ supplies.

Amid such tensions, Huang has essentially emerged as a backchannel between the two sides at least in the domain of trade and technology.

For one, Huang convinced Trump to reverse the restriction of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China.

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Currently, Huang is on his third visit to China this year. In the words of Bloomberg, he is “becoming increasingly adept at pulling off a delicate diplomatic dance that is both benefiting his company and helping the world’s biggest economies manage their differences”

However, it is a role that Huang has taken up reluctantly. Earlier this year in January, he was the only major tech titan to not attend Trump’s inauguration.

“Huang is obviously on good terms with Trump administration. Yet his chip business is one of the biggest flashpoints between Beijing and Washington. It’s possible the two leaders may want such a channel for messaging, but is he willing to?” Feng Chucheng, the founding partner of Hutong Research, told Bloomberg.

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How Nvidia CEO became US-China troubleshooter

In the United States, Huang has deftly engaged with the Trump administration by finding allies in senior officials.

In China, Huang has leveraged his business and charmed with his Mandarin skills and appreciation for the Chinese culture. He has also been careful to not touch China’s raw nerve or impress his roots too much — he is of Taiwanese descent and was born in Taiwan.

After initially not impressing Trump at a dinner, Huang built rapport with David Sacks, a veteran Silicon Valley investor whom Trump has appointed as his AI tsar, and found an ally in him, according to The New York Times.

By working with him and Sriram Krishnan, who works on AI in the Trump administration, he convinced the administration with his thinking.

Huang also pledged to invest $500 billion in the United States that helped smoothen ties with Trump.

Huang gains as Musk, Cook lose

Huang’s rise has coincided with the downfall of Tesla boss Musk and Apple CEO Cook.

While Trump fell out with Musk over political differences that came out in the open a few weeks back, Trump is upset with Cook over Apple’s overseas manufacturing.

Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariff on Apple’s products made outside of the United States — including in India.

For context, as many 15-20 per cent iPhones were made in India last month and India’s share may reach 25-30 per cent by 2027.