Lutnick Draws Red Line: "Great American Companies" Shouldn't Use Chinese Memory Chips
One week after The Wall Street Journal reported that Tim Cook's Apple was testing memory chips from China's CXMT, a company blacklisted by the Pentagon over alleged ties to the People's Liberation Army, the outlet published a follow-up story with an interview with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who publicly urged Apple not to proceed. The standoff comes as the AI data-center buildout absorbs global memory supplies, driving prices sharply higher and forcing consumer-electronics manufacturers to explore alternative sources.
"The Trump administration is not in favor of that," Lutnick said in an interview after touring a new Apple manufacturing plant in Houston, Texas. There have to be "other solutions to the memory issue, but it's not great American companies using Chinese memory."
Lutnick said he has told Apple "plainly" that US tech giants shouldn't use Chinese memory. Apple has tested chips from CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies for potential use in devices sold in China, though Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan declined to comment on the trials, saying her team must examine "all options."
Apple can buy standardized Chinese memory chips without government approval, but customized components could require licenses.
As we've covered, the iPhone maker has been waging a lobbying campaign to secure the White House's blessing to ease the financial pressure from soaring memory-chip prices. A recent FT report said Apple approached the Commerce Department earlier this summer about procuring Chinese memory chips.
Related:
But Lutnick's comments to the WSJ make clear that the White House has, at least for now, withheld that blessing.
Meanwhile, Micron Technology and US senators from states benefiting from planned US memory investments are lobbying the administration to block US tech giants from procuring Chinese memory chips, warning that doing so would undermine domestic production and national security.
The WSJ previously reported that other device companies are also seeking supplies from CXMT:
Back to the Lutnick interview from Friday, the outlet reported:
To sum up, Apple does not appear to have the White House's blessing to use Chinese memory chips, leaving the company with fewer options to offset soaring component costs and signaling continued upward pressure on product prices.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/15/2026 - 12:15
Continue reading...
[ H/T ZeroHedge ]
One week after The Wall Street Journal reported that Tim Cook's Apple was testing memory chips from China's CXMT, a company blacklisted by the Pentagon over alleged ties to the People's Liberation Army, the outlet published a follow-up story with an interview with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who publicly urged Apple not to proceed. The standoff comes as the AI data-center buildout absorbs global memory supplies, driving prices sharply higher and forcing consumer-electronics manufacturers to explore alternative sources.
"The Trump administration is not in favor of that," Lutnick said in an interview after touring a new Apple manufacturing plant in Houston, Texas. There have to be "other solutions to the memory issue, but it's not great American companies using Chinese memory."
Lutnick said he has told Apple "plainly" that US tech giants shouldn't use Chinese memory. Apple has tested chips from CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies for potential use in devices sold in China, though Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan declined to comment on the trials, saying her team must examine "all options."
Apple can buy standardized Chinese memory chips without government approval, but customized components could require licenses.
As we've covered, the iPhone maker has been waging a lobbying campaign to secure the White House's blessing to ease the financial pressure from soaring memory-chip prices. A recent FT report said Apple approached the Commerce Department earlier this summer about procuring Chinese memory chips.
Related:
But Lutnick's comments to the WSJ make clear that the White House has, at least for now, withheld that blessing.
Meanwhile, Micron Technology and US senators from states benefiting from planned US memory investments are lobbying the administration to block US tech giants from procuring Chinese memory chips, warning that doing so would undermine domestic production and national security.
The WSJ previously reported that other device companies are also seeking supplies from CXMT:
Back to the Lutnick interview from Friday, the outlet reported:
To sum up, Apple does not appear to have the White House's blessing to use Chinese memory chips, leaving the company with fewer options to offset soaring component costs and signaling continued upward pressure on product prices.
Tyler Durden Sat, 08/15/2026 - 12:15
Continue reading...
[ H/T ZeroHedge ]
