Washington opposes tech giants sourcing Chinese memory chips, intensifying supply chain tensions and influencing market dynamics amid rising component costs and geopolitical concerns.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has made clear that Washington does not want Apple or other major US technology groups buying memory chips from Chinese suppliers. In comments reported by The Wall Street Journal after a visit to Apple’s new plant in Houston, he said the administration was “not in favour” of the idea and told Apple “plainly” that there should be “other solutions to the memory issue”. The remarks follow reports that Apple has been testing chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, as it looks for ways to ease rising component costs.
The pressure on Apple reflects a wider squeeze across the memory market. Reporting by MacRumors said the company is qualifying CXMT’s DRAM chips but has not committed to using them commercially, while also lobbying the US government for approval to source from Chinese suppliers. The strain has been intensified by AI infrastructure demand, which is absorbing large volumes of memory supply and pushing prices higher for consumer electronics makers.
That search for alternative supply has drawn political resistance. According to a letter published by the House Select Committee on China, lawmakers John Moolenaar and George Whitesides urged Lutnick to block purchases from Chinese memory producers, arguing that such imports would damage US national security, supply chains and domestic manufacturing. Tom’s Hardware reported that Micron and senators from states expecting US memory investment are also pressing the administration to keep the market closed to Chinese chips.
The dispute is not limited to Apple. Reporting cited by The Wall Street Journal and Tom’s Hardware indicates that HP, Dell, Acer and Asus have also explored Chinese memory sources as shortages worsen, with some devices using CXMT parts outside the US. YMTC, another Chinese chipmaker in the debate, is better known for NAND flash memory and supplies a range of resellers and device brands. For Apple, which still relies heavily on an Asian supply chain while expanding assembly in India and adding some US manufacturing, the current position leaves fewer options to contain costs and may keep pressure on product pricing.
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