US treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Friday took a swipe at commerce secretary Howard Lutnick over delays in restricting Nvidia chip exports to Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based company whose chief executive is suspected by US intelligence of having links to Chinese espionage.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Bessent said the Treasury, State and Defence departments, along with the US Trade Representative, had supported placing Megaspeed on the export control list for several months. However, he said the decision rested with the Commerce Department, which oversees restrictions on sensitive American technology exports.
“Commerce has the pen, and you will have to ask them about their internal processes,” Bessent said, as per news agency AP. “My deputy has been pushing this for months.”
Deep Dive
Why did Scott Bessent blame Howard Lutnick over restrictions on Nvidia chip exports to Megaspeed?
Why is Megaspeed under investigation over Nvidia chip exports?
What are US lawmakers asking Howard Lutnick to explain about Nvidia chip sales?
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The dispute comes amid allegations involving former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Megaspeed chief executive Alice Huang. According to a report by The New York Times, Alice Huang is suspected by US intelligence of being a Chinese spy, while Jensen Huang allegedly had an affair with her. China has denied allegations of espionage.
Lutnick has also faced questions over his reportedly close relationship with Jensen Huang. The former Nvidia chief executive has maintained close ties with Trump and visited the White House on September 29 for discussions on artificial intelligence safety.
{{/usCountry}}Lutnick has also faced questions over his reportedly close relationship with Jensen Huang. The former Nvidia chief executive has maintained close ties with Trump and visited the White House on September 29 for discussions on artificial intelligence safety.
{{/usCountry}}A New York Times report on Thursday said Lutnick had resisted efforts to impose tighter restrictions on the sale of Nvidia's more advanced chips to China. Chinese companies have reportedly obtained the semiconductors through intermediaries such as Megaspeed, which is said to have purchased more than $4 billion worth of Nvidia's advanced chips.
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Investigation into Megaspeed and Nvidia
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security began investigating Megaspeed International in 2024 over suspected violations of US export restrictions. The investigation was subsequently transferred to the Justice Department, AP reported.
Megaspeed was accused last year of illegally shipping advanced Nvidia chips to China. The company denied the allegations in December, saying there was “no evidence” of such exports.
On Thursday, Megaspeed said it took its responsibilities under American export control laws “extremely seriously” and remained committed to working “constructively and transparently” with the US government.
Lutnick had received a classified memo in the spring warning him about Jensen Huang's relationship with a person suspected of espionage, Axios reported this week.
Congress seeks answers from Lutnick
Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts wrote to Lutnick on Thursday, demanding that he preserve all records concerning decisions on Nvidia chip exports. Wyden and Neal are the top Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, respectively.
Trump's approval of advanced Nvidia chip exports to China “raises critical questions about whether and to what extent political considerations are improperly influencing policy decisions made by the Administration,” Wyden and Neal wrote.
Republican lawmakers have also called for Lutnick to explain his department's decisions. Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has sought a December 2 hearing on suspected chip smuggling and allegations of private companies interfering in export control policies and investigations.
In a letter to Jeff Kessler, undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, Mast requested the appearance of Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter and a senior Commerce Department official before the panel.
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana has separately urged Lutnick to address the controversy publicly and explain the approval of chip sales to Megaspeed.
“The Commerce Department greenlit $4 billion of sales of advanced chips to the company of the spy that Mr. Huang was having an affair with and I want to know why," Kennedy said. "I want to know why the Commerce Department did it in light of the export controls, and everything I read indicates that this was a decision by the secretary himself."
Kennedy said Lutnick should also testify before the Senate, adding that lawmakers should subpoena him if necessary.
Nvidia controversy puts US-China chip policy under scrutiny
The growing dispute has put Nvidia, one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies, at the centre of a political and national security controversy. The company's advanced processors are critical to the global artificial intelligence industry, powering systems and models developed by companies including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Trump has previously shown support for Jensen Huang. Last month, he presented the then-Nvidia chief with a National Medal of Science. Earlier this week, the US President also defended Huang, saying: “he said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy.”