Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed blame on the Commerce Department for not placing restrictions on Megaspeed, the company involved in Nvidia’s alleged spy scandal, saying his department requested restrictions “for months” but ultimately the Commerce “has the pen.”
“I am frustrated when President Trump made it very clear that China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s,” he told CNBC in an interview Friday.
“Treasury, War, [Office of the U.S. Trade Representative], and State, they were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the Entity List for months, but Commerce has the pen,” he said. “You’ll have to ask them about their internal processes.”
Bessent declined to confirm an Axios report that he personally confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week about his department’s failure to place Megaspeed on its Entity List, over concerns that the Singapore-based company could divert advanced American chips to China.
“I’m going to say as Treasury secretary, Treasury and my deputy has been pushing for this for months, at the deputy’s level,” he said of restrictions. “I think we have all the authorities we need, they just need to be implemented.”
Nvidia’s now-former CEO, Jensen Huang, on Sunday admitted to having an affair with a woman identified as Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, whom the U.S. has accused of spying for China. He stepped down on Thursday after reports of a second affair with a Nvidia coworker.
Lutnick’s head is now reportedly on the chopping block amid the unraveling scandal.
Reuters reported on Thursday that White House officials are discussing whether to oust him amid growing criticism over Nvidia’s chip exports to China. There’s also scrutiny over why dozens of other Chinese companies weren’t placed on the trade blacklist by his department.
President Donald Trump has denied having doubts in Lutnick, with a White House official on Thursday saying he “maintains complete confidence in the secretary and his ability to carry out the position.”