Washington DC [US], November 12 (ANI): US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the US Commerce Department’s reluctance to designate Nvidia customer Megaspeed as a potential national security threat in a meeting at the White House Situation Room last week, according to a CNN report citing two people familiar with the matter.
The confrontation highlights growing differences within the Trump administration over concerns surrounding China’s access to advanced Nvidia semiconductors and the possible use of US technology by Chinese-linked entities.
According to CNN, Treasury officials have argued that Megaspeed should be placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, a designation used to restrict American companies from supplying products to foreign businesses and organisations considered potential national security risks.
US officials have reportedly been concerned that Megaspeed circumvented American laws and channelled advanced Nvidia chips into China. Despite these concerns, the Commerce Department has so far declined to place the Singapore-based company on the list.
During the confrontation last Thursday, Bessent pressed Lutnick on the issue, but the Commerce Secretary did not immediately commit to any specific action, the people familiar with the matter told CNN. Axios first reported the Situation Room confrontation.
The issue has attracted renewed attention following reports concerning Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his alleged relationship with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom the US intelligence community suspected of being a Chinese spy.
According to CNN, citing people familiar with the matter, senior Trump administration officials, including Lutnick, had been briefed months earlier about the relationship and the intelligence community’s suspicions surrounding Alice Huang.
The development has added to concerns within the administration over Megaspeed’s business dealings and its access to advanced American semiconductor technology.
Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company, was originally incorporated in 2015 as a Chinese video game developer under the name 7Road International. However, in the three years since Alice Huang became its director and the company changed its name, it has emerged as one of the largest buyers of Nvidia chips in Asia, as reported by CNN.
According to estimates, the company has purchased more than USD 4 billion worth of Nvidia semiconductors, CNN reported.
Megaspeed has denied any wrongdoing, describing itself as a “compliant and legal company”.
The US Commerce Department’s Entity List is among Washington’s significant instruments for restricting American companies from supplying technology and products to foreign entities considered security risks.
However, placing Megaspeed on the list could carry wider diplomatic and economic implications, potentially escalating tensions with China at a time when US President Donald Trump is seeking to manage Washington’s trade relationship with Beijing.
The Commerce Department has not added any company to the Entity List in more than a year, as reported by CNN.
The disagreement between Bessent and Lutnick underscores the competing considerations within the Trump administration over restricting China’s access to advanced American technology while managing broader trade relations between the two countries. (ANI)
