Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed to the Commerce Department on Friday over the Trump administration's failure to place Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer, on a U.S. trade blacklist over national security concerns, according to a report by The Hill. Asked who was behind the decision, Bessent told CNBC that “Commerce has the pen,” The Hill reported, and he listed Treasury, War, the U.S. Trade Representative and State.
In a Friday interview, Bessent said his department and others agreed on placing Megaspeed on a special list of companies that pose national security concerns, but that the Commerce Department “has the pen,” Axios reported. Axios also reported that Bessent did not deny reports of tension between him and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has come under scrutiny for his inaction.
BBC News reported that Bessent blamed Lutnick's Commerce Department for failing to block Megaspeed. He told CNBC that several government agencies “were in favour of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months.”
The three reports agree that Bessent said multiple agencies supported the listing and that he placed responsibility with Commerce. The summaries of the Axios, BBC News and The Hill reports do not describe a response from Lutnick or the Commerce Department. The summaries also do not say when the other agencies reached their view, beyond the BBC's account that it was "for months." Axios and The Hill framed the dispute in terms of tension and blame between the two secretaries, while Axios reported that Bessent did not deny the tension.
Sources: Axios: Bessent puts Megaspeed heat on Lutnick: "Commerce has the pen"; BBC News: Bessent blames Lutnick's Commerce Department for failing to block Megaspeed; The Hill: Bessent: Treasury pushed to blacklist Megaspeed, but 'Commerce has the pen'.