US Treasury Secretary Bessent accused Commerce Secretary Lutnick of failing to add Nvidia partner Megaspeed to the Entity List

US Treasury Secretary Bessent said that for months the Treasury Department, the Department of Defense, the State Department and the US Trade Representative's Office supported adding Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company caught up in the Nvidia controversy, to the Commerce Department's Entity List, but the Commerce Department did not act; he said "the Commerce Department holds the pen." According to US media reports this week, Commerce Secretary Lutnick delayed the Trump administration's crackdown on companies suspected of transshipping Nvidia chips to China; Democratic Senator Blumenthal said "Lutnick must step down," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott demanded that he testify, and Reuters reported on Thursday that senior White House officials are discussing whether to let him leave. Megaspeed drew attention after reports that Jensen Huang had an affair with the company's former executive Alice Huang, and US authorities suspect Huang is a Chinese spy; Jensen Huang stepped down as Nvidia CEO this week. Bessent also questioned Nvidia's vetting of its partners; members of Congress called for further restrictions on China's access to advanced AI chips.