Apple's push to buy blacklisted Chinese memory chips pits it against Micron

Apple has reportedly asked senior Trump administration officials to approve sourcing DRAM memory chips from two Chinese suppliers, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), for products sold outside the United States.

The request, described by people familiar with the matter, sets Apple on a collision course with US memory maker Micron Technology and with export-control policy: the Pentagon has designated both CXMT and YMTC as Chinese military-linked companies.

Apple made the appeal to officials including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and has already run small-scale testing with CXMT, according to those accounts.

Micron Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra met with Lutnick to urge the White House to reject the plan, warning it could harm US tech manufacturing, people briefed on the meeting say. Micron argues it can instead address the memory shortage by accelerating construction of domestic plants, and has pledged $250 billion toward US manufacturing capacity.

The stakes reach beyond price. Companies on the Pentagon’s blacklist cannot supply the Department of Defense directly or through components inside third-party products, so Apple could jeopardize its US defense sales if it proceeds with CXMT purchases.

Neither Apple nor Micron has publicly confirmed the discussions, and no decision from the administration has been announced.