Bessent vs. Lutnick: Trump Officials Clash Over Nvidia China Chip Probe

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent turned to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the White House Situation Room on Nov. 5 with one question. Why was Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer accused of smuggling US chips to China, not blacklisted?

Lutnick said he didn’t know, according to Axios. His department has not blacklisted anyone in 13 months. Nvidia, meanwhile, has shed about $700 billion in market value in November.

America’s Chip Blacklist Has Not Grown Since October 2025

The blacklist is the Entity List. Companies on it cannot buy American technology without a license, and licenses are usually refused.

The last name went on it on October 9, 2025, by a Yahoo Finance count.

More than 100 others are waiting, including Chinese AI lab DeepSeek. A review panel approved them. Commerce never published them, Reuters reported.

Lutnick had heard the name before. Sen. Tom Cotton warned him about the Singapore firm in an October 2025 letter. He said its chip orders equaled nearly 2% of a US company’s global data center sales.

Megaspeed denies moving chips illegally. Nvidia’s board says the CEO’s spy scandal did not compromise national security.

Bessent Announced the China Truce That Paused Tougher Export Rules

Bessent also announced the October 2025 trade truce with Beijing. That deal froze a rule that would have extended blacklist curbs to any company at least 50% owned by a listed firm.

In September, he said the truce would run to Jan. 10, 2027. On Nov. 5, the day of the confrontation, Commerce pushed the frozen rule to that same date, law firm Baker McKenzie noted.

Commerce says it uses the blacklist every day against bad actors. It also closed an AI chip export loophole in May. Kevin Kurland, a former Commerce official, said that trade policy is

“overshadowing the use of a critical national security tool.”

Nvidia shares rose 2.7% to $173.29 early Wednesday. Earnings land November 17. The truce ends January 10. Megaspeed would be the first new name on the list in 13 months.