Bloomberg Television7 min
Bessent, Lutnick Clash Over Nvidia China Curbs
Bessent, Lutnick, Maria Curi, David Gura, Christina Ruffini
Interview, Fireside Chat
- Senior administration officials possess intelligence since at least May suggesting Jensen Huang's affair with Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese spy, necessitates placing her company, Megaspeed, on the entity list to prevent illegal technology rerouting to China.
- The Commerce Department and Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) have not placed all necessary companies on the entity list, creating uncertainty regarding whether the list will be fully updated by year-end.
- NVIDIA and Jensen Huang are lobbying the Trump administration to implement policies keeping the Chinese market open, specifically arguing that allowing H200 chip exports would render the U.S. adversary reliant on American technology.
- Key decision-makers for this policy trajectory include President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees the department influencing the outcome.
- The Commerce Department is acting on instructions from President Trump, though it remains the sole holdout among administration officials who wish to take action against Megaspeed, a stance confirmed as a disagreement with the Treasury Secretary.
- Secretary Lutnick aims to maintain good relations with China ahead of a potential trip this month, while the department currently implements measures to stop remote access to sensitive technologies, anticipating further action will be required.
- Political scrutiny on President Trump is expected to intensify next year following a potential Democratic takeover of both chambers of Congress, at which point accountability for these revelations is projected to shift toward the President.