Trump Cabinet Officials Clashed Over Nvidia Chip Sales to Megaspeed
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the administration's failure to restrict advanced chip sales to Megaspeed.
A dispute between two of President Trump's top economic officials has emerged at the center of a controversy over advanced semiconductor sales, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent directly confronting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week over the administration's handling of Megaspeed, the firm at the heart of an Nvidia-related affair.
Bessent challenged Lutnick on why restrictions had not been placed on advanced chip sales to Megaspeed, according to reporting by The New York Times. The clash underscores deepening tensions within the administration over how aggressively to police the export of cutting-edge American semiconductors — technology that carries significant national security implications.
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The confrontation between Bessent and Lutnick highlights a broader fault line within the Trump White House over export controls. The Commerce Department, which oversees chip export licensing, and the Treasury Department, which helps enforce financial sanctions and trade restrictions, have overlapping equities in decisions about who can access advanced American technology.
Megaspeed's emergence as a flashpoint reflects ongoing concerns among U.S. officials and lawmakers about whether sophisticated chips — particularly those produced by companies like Nvidia — are reaching entities that could use them in ways contrary to American interests. Export control enforcement has become an increasingly high-stakes arena as rivals seek access to the most powerful processors available.
The internal disagreement suggests that the administration has yet to reach consensus on how to handle Megaspeed and potentially similar cases going forward. Continue reading at NYT > Business.
