Bessent Presses Lutnick on Megaspeed as Trump Backs New China Chip Crackdown
NVDA is trading near its 52-week low of $164.27 (3.3% below the low) on elevated volume (2.6× avg).
Summary
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent challenged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a post-midterm White House Situation Room meeting over why Nvidia customer Megaspeed is still not on the Commerce Department entity list despite allegations it diverted U.S. chips to China. Lutnick said he would look into it, then sought another delay and promised additional options — exposing open division inside the administration on China export policy. Separately, Trump authorized a fresh crackdown on companies suspected of diverting Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China after consulting Tesla CEO Elon Musk, with Bessent, Hegseth, Rubio and Greer backing the restrictions. The New York Times also reported that Commerce Undersecretary Jeff Kessler abruptly halted a Megaspeed investigation after Nvidia intervened, which is the more damaging thread for Nvidia because it suggests the company influenced an active probe. Megaspeed says it cooperated with US inspections and takes export control laws seriously, while China says the U.S. shouldn't use Nvidia allegations to justify tech restrictions. This lands on top of the board's move to consider removing CEO Jensen Huang over alleged affairs, including one with a Megaspeed employee suspected of being a Chinese spy — a compounding governance and national-security overhang that keeps pressure on the stock, which is already trading near its 52-week low and fell 7% premarket. Michael Burry declared 'Don Has Fallen' amid the Nvidia CEO row, while Gene Munster said NVDA can thrive 'with or without Jensen,' and prediction markets are picking favorites for who's next in line to lead Nvidia. Tesla is only a peripheral mention via Musk's consultation; Nvidia is the directly affected company.
At the time of this announcement, NVDA was trading at $158.78 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.2T. The 52-week trading range was $164.27 to $243.37. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: Benzinga.