Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly pointed fingers at the Commerce Department, stating that his agency and other parts of the executive branch pushed for months to restrict a Nvidia customer accused of diverting advanced artificial intelligence chips to China.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Bessent explained that the Treasury, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the U.S. Trade Representative supported placing Singapore-based company Megaspeed International on the government's restricted Entity List. However, he noted that the authority ultimately rested with the Commerce Department. "Commerce has the pen," Bessent said. "And you will have to ask them about their internal processes."
The controversy centers on Megaspeed, which the U.S. government suspects of routing advanced Nvidia hardware to China in a workaround against national export bans. Scrutiny over the oversight delays has intensified following the resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Megaspeed was formerly led by Alice Huang, who is suspected of being a Chinese spy.
Political pressure is mounting in Washington regarding the matter. A U.S. official confirmed that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on December 10 to address the department's export oversight. Republican lawmakers, including Indiana Senator Jim Banks, have publicly questioned why the administration did not move faster to block the chip sales.
