Bessent says Commerce Department stalled Megaspeed blacklist despite backing from four agencies

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has publicly blamed the Commerce Department for failing to blacklist Megaspeed International. The Singapore-based cloud computing firm is an Nvidia partner suspected of funneling restricted AI chips into China.

Bessent says four federal agencies have backed the move for months. Commerce, the one agency that can actually make it happen, has not acted.

Four agencies agree, one holds the pen

Bessent laid out his case in a CNBC interview on November 13, 2026. According to his account, Treasury, Defense, the US Trade Representative and State all supported adding Megaspeed to the Entity List. The Entity List is the Commerce-run roster of companies that face restrictions on receiving US technology.

He was blunt about where the holdup sits.

“Commerce has the pen.”

The CNBC appearance was not the first time Bessent raised the issue. Two days earlier, on November 11, 2026, he confronted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about Megaspeed’s status during a meeting in the White House Situation Room.

As of November 13, 2026, Megaspeed still did not appear on the Entity List. Investigations into the company are ongoing. Lawmakers have stepped up pressure on Lutnick over the delay.

What Megaspeed is accused of

Megaspeed has been under investigation since at least 2025. The core allegation is that the firm rerouted Nvidia chips to China, sidestepping US restrictions on high-specification models.

Megaspeed is suspected of handling more than $4 billion worth of Nvidia chips over a two-year period.

Nvidia placed Megaspeed on its internal block list in June 2025. That means the company stopped doing business with the firm on its own, well before any formal government listing.

The stakes are framed by President Donald Trump’s own directives. The administration’s position is that China should not receive Nvidia chips more advanced than the H100 level.

Why the Entity List matters so much

An internal block list at one company is useful, but limited. It binds only that company. A firm cut off by Nvidia could, in theory, still look for hardware through other suppliers, resellers or intermediaries.

An Entity List designation works differently. It applies across the board to US technology, which is why Bessent and the other agencies want it.

The background: chips as a national security lever

Advanced AI chips have become one of the main pressure points in US-China tech competition. Washington has relied on export controls to limit China’s access to the most powerful hardware, particularly the chips used to train large AI models.

Megaspeed, based in Singapore rather than mainland China, sits squarely in that enforcement gap.

What this means for Nvidia, chipmakers and policy

For Nvidia, the episode cuts in a few directions. The company can point to its June 2025 block list as evidence that its compliance systems flagged Megaspeed early.

The political dimension is just as important. Bessent going public puts Lutnick in an uncomfortable spot. Commerce now has to either act on Megaspeed or explain why it has not, with Congress watching closely.