Bessent Publicly Blames Lutnick’s Commerce Department for Delays Blacklisting Nvidia Chip Customer Linked to China

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on November 13 publicly attributed delays in restricting advanced Nvidia AI chips to a Singapore-based customer to the Commerce Department under Secretary Howard Lutnick. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bessent stated that Treasury, the Department of War, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the State Department “were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months, but Commerce has the pen.”

“You will have to ask them about their internal process,” Bessent said. He added that he was “frustrated” because “President Trump made it very clear that China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s,” and any leakage “hurts our great companies in the AI race” by giving China an advantage.

The comments escalate an internal dispute that has now spilled into public view. Megaspeed is the firm where a woman with whom Nvidia co-founder and former CEO Jensen Huang had an affair worked; U.S. intelligence had identified her as a suspected Chinese spy. Huang resigned as president, CEO, and board member effective November 12 after the company announced the board accepted his resignation the prior day. An FBI probe continues.

Reporting from Axios and others describes a November Situation Room meeting in which Bessent confronted Lutnick over the failure to blacklist Megaspeed. Trump had approved crackdowns on suspected diversions of Nvidia chips to China at least three times in 2025–2026, including after consulting Elon Musk. Lutnick and Commerce Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler are said to have resisted implementation, citing trade-war risks with Beijing. Lutnick is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee in early December.

White House statements have expressed continued confidence in Lutnick, describing him as transformative. Some advisers have privately discussed whether he should remain, according to people familiar with the conversations. Lutnick’s former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, held substantial Nvidia stock; the firm is now run by his sons and reduced its holdings.

The public finger-pointing adds a cabinet-accountability dimension to the national-security concerns surrounding advanced semiconductor exports. Entity-list placement would have restricted U.S. companies from dealing with Megaspeed. Critics inside the administration argue the delay allowed continued access despite clear presidential direction. Supporters of a more cautious approach have warned that aggressive controls could accelerate Chinese domestic chip development or damage U.S. firms.

Bessent’s on-the-record remarks mark the most direct public criticism of a fellow cabinet secretary in this matter. Whether they prompt faster action on remaining controls or further personnel consequences will be tested in the coming weeks as Lutnick prepares for congressional testimony and the FBI continues its investigation.