Apple Lobbies US Govt For Approval To Buy Blacklisted Chinese Memory Chips: Report

Apple is reportedly lobbying the Trump administration to secure approval for purchasing memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a major Chinese semiconductor company that has been placed on a Pentagon blacklist.

The development was reported by the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Apple has approached the US Commerce Department over the past month seeking permission to source chips from CXMT.

The company has also reportedly engaged other senior officials and stakeholders in Washington as part of its broader lobbying effort to obtain regulatory clearance.

The push highlights the growing tension faced by global technology companies operating within the United States, where rising semiconductor costs—driven largely by artificial intelligence-related demand—are colliding with strict national security restrictions targeting Chinese chipmakers.

CXMT, China’s leading memory chip manufacturer, has been designated by the US Defense Department as a company linked to the Chinese military.

It has also been placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, which restricts US firms from exporting goods, software, or technology to listed entities without a special license. Such licenses are typically difficult to obtain and often denied.

Despite these restrictions, Apple is reportedly seeking an exception in order to ease cost pressures linked to rapidly increasing memory chip prices.

The surge in demand from AI data centers has significantly driven up global prices for memory and storage components, squeezing margins for major electronics manufacturers.

The Financial Times report also noted that Apple has already begun passing some of these cost pressures to consumers.

On Thursday, the company raised prices for its iPad and MacBook lineups, stating that it could no longer absorb the rising cost of memory and storage components.

The situation underscores a broader challenge for US technology firms: balancing supply chain efficiency and cost control with regulatory constraints tied to geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Apple’s lobbying effort reflects the strategic importance of memory chips in the global tech ecosystem, even as governments tighten restrictions on Chinese semiconductor firms over national security concerns.