Apple Lobbies White House to Buy Chips From Blacklisted Chinese Firm
Apple is seeking Trump administration approval to source memory chips from CXMT, a Pentagon-blacklisted Chinese company, amid rising chip costs.
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 national security blacklist, according to a Financial Times report published Friday. The request underscores the growing tension between Washington's export-control architecture and the supply-chain realities facing America's largest technology company.
The lobbying effort is driven in part by financial pressures on Apple, with sources telling the FT that rising memory chip prices have motivated the iPhone maker to seek cheaper or more accessible alternatives. CXMT, as a blacklisted entity, would ordinarily be off-limits for American companies without explicit government authorization, making Apple's request a notable test of how the administration weighs corporate competitiveness against national security concerns.
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The move places the White House in a delicate position. Granting the waiver would signal flexibility on Pentagon-designated firms — potentially drawing criticism from China hawks in Congress and the defense establishment. Denying it, on the other hand, could amplify cost pressures on one of America's most symbolically important corporations at a moment when the administration has been eager to tout domestic manufacturing and tech sector strength.
Neither the White House, Apple, nor CXMT responded to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours, leaving the outcome of the lobbying effort uncertain. The episode reflects a broader pattern in which American technology giants find themselves navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape shaped by geopolitical rivalry with China, where supply chain pragmatism and national security imperatives frequently pull in opposite directions.
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