Its not just the blockade on Nvidia though. They are also stopping China getting hold of nanomater EUV-etching technology from Trumpf/ASMC, the only company that builds it.

Its not just a technology that can be quickly developed domestically or the entire world semiconductor industry wouldn't pivot around Trumpf and TSMC, 2 vulnerable chokepoints of the global economy. Look what happened to semiconductor prices when TSMC closed down for 6 months due to Covid.

Huawei's processors use older 7nm DUV (deep UV) tech vs cutting edge EUV (Extreme UV) etching capable of 3nm or below manufacture. Trumpf cannot grant China licences for the tech and SMIC cannot manufacture 7nm chips at scale.

There is a big power gap between Huawei's 7nm Kirin 9000 produced by SMIC and Apple's 3nm A17 Pro/M3 chipsets produced by TSMC. China is only capable of producing 28nm chipselts at scale as of last year and is a decade away from matching 'western' chipsets.

As we move into the mid-21st Century, whoever controls the world's semiconductor supply controls everything.