China has warned the United States against imposing additional controls on semiconductor exports, as US lawmakers call for tighter restrictions on chip equipment sales to Beijing following the resignation of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a press briefing that Beijing has "consistently opposed the abuse of export control measures, which disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains." Mao called for cooperation between the two countries, saying "China and the United States should work together to implement the important consensus reached by their respective heads of state and maintain the stable development of China-U.S. economic and trade relations."
Huang resigned on Thursday after admitting to an affair with Alice Huang, a former senior executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed. The affair has sparked scrutiny of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, with critics questioning whether his ties to Chinese companies and friendship with Huang may have contributed to insufficient federal oversight of billions of dollars in Nvidia AI chip sales, according to reporting obtained by CBS News. During a Friday interview on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed Lutnick's Commerce Department for failing to add Megaspeed to the Entity List, which would restrict access to US technology products. Bessent said his department, along with Defense, State and the US trade representative, supported adding Megaspeed to the list. "They were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the Entity List for months," Bessent said. "Commerce BIS has the pen, and you will have to ask them about their internal processes."
Intelligence reports have alleged that Alice Huang was a Chinese asset working for China's Ministry of State Security. According to the New York Times, President Trump was briefed on this intelligence about a year ago but decided not to act on it. The Times also reported that US officials circulated a memo last spring citing intelligence that alleged Alice Huang was a spy for China's Ministry of State Security. Beijing has rejected these allegations and said they are a "pretext for imposing a technological blockade" to stop China advancing in artificial intelligence technology.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said there is growing congressional consensus on further tightening controls on chip exports to China. A US official said Lutnick has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on December 10.
For American business owners and investors, tighter export controls could reshape the semiconductor industry's global sales and supply chains, while stricter oversight of major tech companies may create greater regulatory uncertainty.