Nvidea and AMD have separately negotiated deals with the Trump administration to give the U.S. government a 15 percent cut on their AI chip sales to China in exchange for landing necessary export licenses, as Reuters reports. The WSJ is describing the multibillion-dollar deals as unusual and a sign of deepening ties between the firms and the feds. … But isn’t this effectively an export-license tax — or a corporate tax in general? Where’s Congress in all this? … Similar questions are being raised about Trump’s unilateral tariff moves – with Trump typically trying to bully his way around those thorny constitutional questions.

As if on cue, from Greg Ip at the WSJ: “The U.S. Marches Toward State Capitalism With American Characteristics.”

Update — 8.12.25 — Also from the WSJ: “Now Trump Wants an Export Tax.” … And more on from the State Capitalism front, via CNBC: “Trump tells Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon to replace economist over tariff predictions.”