Bessent says Commerce, not Treasury, holds authority on Megaspeed entity list decision

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the Commerce Department, not his own, holds authority over placing Singapore tech firm Megaspeed on a national security entity list, despite interagency support for the action. He declined to deny reported tensions with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Bessent stated on CNBC that Treasury, War, USTR, and State favored adding Megaspeed to the entity list for months, but "Commerce has the pen," directing questions about internal processes to that department. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Megaspeed faces accusations of illegally diverting U.S. chips to China, and former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an affair with a company executive, Alice Huang, identified by U.S. officials as a suspected Chinese intelligence asset. Lutnick has faced scrutiny for inaction on the matter.