There’s a small problem with Trump’s export deal with Nvidia and AMD: The Constitution says it’s illegal
Key Takeaways
Also: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
6 min read
Estimated completion
cryptocurrency
Article classification
August 14, 2025
09:05 AM
Fortune
Original publisher
s·CEO DailyThere’s a small blem with Trump’s export deal with Nvidia and AMD: The Constitution says it’s illegalBy Diane BradyBy Diane BradyExecutive Editorial Director, Fortune Media and author of CEO DailyDiane BradyExecutive Editorial Director, Fortune Media and author of CEO DailyDiane Brady is an award-winning journalist and author who has interviewed newsmakers worldwide and often speaks the global landscape
As executive editorial director of the Fortune CEO Initiative, she brings together a growing community of global leaders through conversations, content, and connections
She is also executive editorial director of Fortune Media and interviews newsmakers for the magazine and the CEO Daily .SEE FULL BIO Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration's export controls as hampering U.S. opportunities
Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg—Getty ImagesIn today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on Nvidia and AMD’s export deal—which may be unconstitutional
The big story: Trump meets Putin tomorrow, expectations are low
Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune
The U.S. government’s unprecedented 15% revenue-sharing agreement with Nvidia and AMD on Chinese chip sales could be coming to a company near you
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a “beta test” in a Bloomberg TV interview yesterday, adding, “we could see it in other industries over time.” This comes at a time when new tariffs are bringing in enough money to slow the growth of America’s $37 trillion national debt, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
If, as Bessent argues, the White House chips deal passes muster because there are no national security concerns that necessitate export controls on these particular ducts, another issue remains: Article 1, Section 9, of the U.S
Constitution, otherwise known as “the export clause,” states plainly that “No Tax or Duty shall be laid on exported from any State.” When efforts to impose excise taxes have gone before the Supreme Court in the past, such as the United States v
IBM or the United States v
United States Shoe Corp., the Court ruled in favor of
In the first instance, IBM successfully fought a tax on insurance for goods bound for export
In the second, the United States Shoe Corp. was spared a fee on exports going through U.S. ports
In both instances, the Supreme Court cited the export clause as grounds to bar the government from collecting money on goods destined for sale abroad
But those decisions were rendered in 1996 and 1998, respectively
Today’s court could take a different stance, especially when it comes to the power of the Executive branch
With Beijing and Washington weaponizing exports and policies around tariffs and export controls shifting on a daily basis, what’s next is un
I’m curious to get thoughts from leaders on how the current policy environment is impacting their strategy for global growth
Send your thoughts to the below and thanks for joining the conversation
CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top newsTrump warns Putin of “severe consequences” prior to Ukraine talksThe two leaders will meet in Alaska on Friday
Trump wants a ceasefire and warned Moscow of “very severe consequences” if he does not get one
Putin has little to loseExperts say the Russian leader will ly try to expand the talks by offering various trade deals to Trump and asking for sanctions to be lifted
Ukraine and Europe will not accept any kind of “swap” which results in Russia permanently occupying more Ukrainian territory, and Russia is unly to agree to retreat—making a ceasefire deal difficult
Some experts say Putin is skilled at manipulating Trump.The president is unhappy with the media coverage so farHe posted on Truth Social: “Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin
Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won.’ What’s that all ? We are winning on EVERYTHING. … If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal!”Bullish IPO soarsThe crypto exchange’s stock popped 84% when it went public yesterday, and its stock was temporarily paused from trading
The expectation was for a rise of around 30%
The stock closed at $68, with a market cap of $10 billion
Crypto is eating banks’ lending assetsBanks are rushing to offer stablecoins to consumers
Payments for those crypto tokens must be used to buy the bonds that keep the coins value pegged 1:1 with the dollar
That means deposited cash that would normally sit on the banks’ books and be available for loans is shrinking, the NY Times reports. “You don’t need a lot of deposit flight to really buckle the banks,” said Mike Cagney, head of the digital lender Figure
AI racePerplexity rolled out its new Comet engine to users on Wednesday—here’s how it measures up against Google.The benefits of AI keep not showing upCompanies are expected to spend $62 billion this year on AI, but 8 in 10 companies report “no significant bottom-line impact” from the new nology
In fact, 42% of companies dropped their AI efforts last year, according to S&P Global
The AI hype cycle may be entering “the trough of disillusionment,” the low point in the evolution of new that precedes a long, slow climb into actual ductivity, according to re firm Gartner.Goldman Sachs doubles down on tariff reOn Wednesday, Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle doubled down on the bank’s re that American consumers will bear the majority of tariff-related costs, ing criticism of the bank from President Trump. “If the most recent tariffs, the April tariff, the same pattern that we’ve seen with those earliest February tariffs, then eventually, by the fall, we estimate that consumers would bear two-thirds of the cost,” Mericle explained to CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.The S&P 500 futures were flat this morning, premarket, after the index closed up 0.32% yesterday
STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.2% in early trading
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was flat in early trading
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.45%
China’s CSI 300 was flat
The South Korea KOSPI was flat
India’s Nifty 50 was flat
Bitcoin rose to $121.7K.Around the watercoolerHow Binance’s Yi He became ‘the most powerful woman in crypto’—and steered the company past its biggest ordeal by Jeff John RobertsElon Musk broadens his long-running feud with OpenAI’s Sam Altman by bringing in a third party: Apple by Beatrice NolanRay Dalio was so broke early in his career he had to borrow $4,000 from his dad—and learned 2 key lessons that set him on the road to billionaire by Nick LichtenbergSwitzerland warns its companies that no, they can’t dodge Trump’s tariffs by routing goods through the tiny neighboring country of Liechtenstein by Sasha RogelbergCEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards
This is the web version of CEO Daily, a of must-read global insights from CEOs and industry leaders. to get it dered free to your inbox.
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet