US Treasury Secretary Blames Commerce Department for Delaying Restrictions on Nvidia Chip Exports to China

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday blamed the Commerce Department for delaying action to restrict the flow of advanced Nvidia chips to China through Singapore-based Megaspeed International, a company at the centre of a scandal involving the chipmaker's former CEO Jensen Huang. Speaking on CNBC , Bessent said the Treasury, Defence and State departments, along with the US Trade Representative's office, had supported adding Megaspeed to Washington's export control list for months, but the Commerce Department was responsible for implementing the move. "But Commerce has the pen, and you will have to ask them about their internal processes," Bessent said. He said he was "frustrated" because President Donald Trump had "made it very clear China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s". Bessent's remarks amounted to an unusually public rebuke of the Commerce Department, which oversees US export controls on sensitive, high-tech goods. The department is headed by Howard Lutnick, who has come under scrutiny over his reportedly close relationship with Huang. The New York Times reported on Thursday that Lutnick had resisted imposing tighter restrictions on the sale of Nvidia's advanced chips to China. Chinese firms have reportedly accessed the chips through companies such as Megaspeed. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last year, Megaspeed was accused of illicitly shipping advanced Nvidia chips to China. The company denied the allegations in December, saying there was "no evidence" of such exports. On Thursday, it reiterated that it takes its obligations under American export control laws "extremely seriously" and is committed to working "constructively and transparently" with the US government.