Treasury Scott Bessent says “any leakage” of advanced computer chips to China is frustrating, and he hopes the Commerce Department will stop it.
Mr. Bessent, speaking on CNBC, said President Trump did not want sophisticated products from Nvidia passed through third parties to China.
But Mr. Bessent said the Commerce Department oversees that, and “you will have to ask them about their internal processes.”
People were interested in these podcasts
It was a not-so-subtle jab at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his reported reluctance to impose export controls on Nvidia, the semiconductor company embroiled in a scandal because former CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, Alice Huang.
Ms. Huang is a major shareholder in a Singapore-based artificial intelligence company, Megaspeed, so lawmakers want to know if she used the company to divert Nvidia products to China.
Mr. Bessent on Friday didn’t say if he thinks Megaspeed, specifically, served as a pass-through, but said he’s worried about the practice generally.
“I think that there is a lot of leakage in the system, and we are constantly working to close that down,” Mr. Bessent said.
“The story has been thus far on Jensen Huang’s personal foibles,” he said. “The real story here should be: Did Nvidia know their client, and was there a robust effort at Nvidia to make sure that there was no leakage and that they were selling to what were obviously pass-through shell companies?”
If that occurred, he said, “it’s important that anyone at the company there be held accountable for that.”
Mr. Bessent reportedly confronted Mr. Lutnick in the White House Situation Room about the Commerce Department’s alleged reluctance to rein in Nvidia and enforce export controls, though the treasury secretary declined to discuss his closed-door conversations.
The White House is standing by Mr. Lutnick and says Mr. Trump has confidence in him.
The Senate Banking Committee, meanwhile, wants Mr. Lutnick to testify on export controls on Dec. 10.
The Washington Times reached out to the Commerce Department about whether the secretary plans to testify and the alleged confrontation with other parts of the administration.
Mr. Huang resigned from Nvidia on Thursday after revelations about a second affair, this time with an executive who reported to him.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.