China says Nvidia violated antimonopoly laws, according to a preliminary investigation

Chinese regulators said yesterday that a preliminary investigation found chipmaker Nvidia violated the country’s anti-monopoly laws.

The State Administration for Market Regulation said in a one-sentence statement that it would carry out “further investigation” into Nvidia, the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer.

The statement said the investigation centered on Nvidia’s purchase of network and data transmission company Mellanox Technologies.

Nvidia didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.

Regulators said last year that they were investigating the company for suspected violations stemming from the $6.9 billion acquisition of Mellanox in 2019.

The decision ratchets up pressure on the U.S. as officials from Washington hold trade talks with Beijing’s representatives in Spain this week.

Beijing has been tightening scrutiny of the U.S. chip industry. On Saturday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was carrying out an anti-dumping investigation into certain analog IC chips imported from the U.S., including commodity chips that are commonly made by companies such as Texas Instruments and ON Semiconductor.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid for negotiations on tariffs and national security issues related to the ownership of social media platform TikTok. The talks were scheduled from Sunday to Wednesday.

It’s the fourth round of discussions after meetings in London, Geneva and Stockholm. The two governments have agreed to several 90-day pauses on a series of increasing reciprocal tariffs, staving off an all-out trade war. KELVIN CHAN, LONDON, MDT/AP