Apple Lobbies White House to Buy Chips From Blacklisted Chinese Firm
Apple is seeking Trump administration approval to source memory chips from CXMT, a Chinese company on the Pentagon's blacklist, the FT reports.
Apple is pressing the Trump administration for a waiver that would allow it to purchase memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer that the Pentagon has placed on a restricted entity blacklist, according to a Financial Times report published Friday. The lobbying effort represents a notable collision between Apple's supply-chain economics and the U.S. government's broader campaign to limit American companies' reliance on Chinese defense-linked technology firms.
The Financial Times, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said Apple's push is primarily driven by a desire to relieve financial pressure stemming from rising memory chip prices. Sourcing from CXMT, which produces DRAM chips and has emerged as one of China's most ambitious memory semiconductor developers, could offer Apple a cost-competitive alternative at a moment when global chip pricing has tightened.
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The episode underscores the increasingly difficult position large American technology companies find themselves in as Washington accelerates export controls and entity-list designations targeting Chinese chip makers. For Apple, which assembles the vast majority of its devices in China and depends on a sprawling Asian supply chain, navigating these restrictions is both a legal and strategic challenge — one that requires direct engagement with the White House rather than quiet procurement adjustments.
What makes this lobbying effort particularly significant is the nature of CXMT's blacklisting. Pentagon designations carry reputational and contractual weight beyond simple trade restrictions, signaling that the U.S. military views the company as connected to China's defense industrial base. A formal waiver from the Trump administration, if granted, would mark an unusual accommodation and could invite scrutiny from national security hawks in Congress.
The White House, Apple, and CXMT had not responded to requests for comment as of the time of reporting. Continue reading at Yahoo.
