Lutnick Under Fire From Both Parties Over Nvidia Chip Exports to China

Howard Lutnick has a rare problem in Washington: Democrats and Republicans are mad at him for the same reason. Lawmakers from both parties are hammering the Commerce Secretary over the administration's refusal to add dozens of Chinese companies to a key US trade blacklist, and over whether Nvidia's exports to China were properly watched.

At the center of the storm sits Megaspeed, a company that has bought more than $4.8 billion in Nvidia AI chips since June 2024. It is under investigation for allegedly diverting those chips to China. Its assets reportedly ballooned from $33 million in 2023 to $3 billion in 2024, a jump that has US officials worried about chip smuggling. Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, is a figure in the controversy — US authorities suspect her of spying for Beijing, according to Reuters.

The scrutiny landed alongside a leadership shakeup at Nvidia. On November 12, 2026, the chipmaker announced Jensen Huang's immediate resignation following an internal investigation, which came after revelations of an affair with Alice Huang, according to Reuters.

The Entity List is Commerce's trade blacklist, and landing on it sharply limits a company's ability to buy sensitive US technology. Critics say Megaspeed and many other Chinese firms should already be on it, accusing Lutnick of resisting their addition despite multiple warnings from officials. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator John Kennedy are among the lawmakers leading the charge.

Critics also argue Lutnick balked at tightening export controls even though President Trump approved stricter measures multiple times throughout 2026. Lawmakers have called for investigations and are pressing for Lutnick's testimony on how he handled export controls. Whether he appears, whether Commerce adds Megaspeed and other firms to the list, and what investigators conclude about where the chips went are the open questions.