Scott Bessent said the Commerce Department delayed blacklisting Megaspeed despite support from Treasury, Defense, State and the US Trade Representative. Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia after reports of his relationship with Alice Huang, an alleged Chinese spy.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed the Commerce Department for the delay in imposing export restrictions on certain Nvidia chips to China, saying the department had not added Singapore-based Megaspeed to Washington’s trade blacklist despite support from other agencies.
Bessent told CNBC that Treasury, the Defense Department, the US Trade Representative’s office and the State Department had backed adding Megaspeed to the blacklist “for months.”
“But Commerce has the pen,” Bessent said. “You will have to ask them about their internal processes.”
He said he was “frustrated” because President Donald Trump “made it very clear that China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s.”
“Any leakage is very frustrating because it hurts our great companies, and in the AI race gives the Chinese an advantage,” he said.
Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia on Thursday and was replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Colette Kress after reports emerged of his multiple affairs, most importantly with Alice Huang (no relation), who is suspected of being a Chinese spy. Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair in a November 8 letter to Nvidia employees that did not name the woman involved.
Megaspeed is suspected of helping Chinese firms get around US export controls by buying Nvidia chips for its data centers in Southeast Asia and routing them to China. The company reportedly traded more than $4 billion worth of Nvidia chips over two years. Beijing has denied the spying allegations.
White House officials are discussing whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick should be fired, the Associated Press reported. Lutnick is scheduled to testify before Congress next month.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott sent letters asking Lutnick and Jensen Huang to appear before him, citing “recent reports [that] raise serious concerns about our national security and the protection of sensitive US technology.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Brian Mast said congressional staff had spoken to Nvidia about a date and location for Huang’s testimony. House Speaker Mike Johnson said there was growing consensus in Congress on limiting chip exports to China.
The dispute highlights a split within the Trump administration over how strictly to enforce export controls on advanced AI chips. Nvidia’s chips are widely used to develop cutting-edge AI models, and the US has sought for years to limit China’s access to them because it does not want the Chinese military to benefit from them.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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