U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer has teamed up with several of his Senate colleagues to demand Apple commit to not purchasing chips from Chinese companies ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) or Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC). [PDF]
With memory shortages causing Apple to raise the prices of Macs and iPads, the company has been talking with CXMT and YMTC about a chip deal. The two companies are on the Defense Department's list of Chinese companies that are suspected to have ties to the People's Liberation Army. Apple is not required to get U.S. approval before buying chips from CXMT, but YMTC is also on the Commerce Department's Entity List, which means Apple would need an export license before being able to work with the company.
Apple has been lobbying the Trump administration to greenlight its plan to buy Chinese chips, and Apple also wants to ensure the government won't add CXMT to the Entity List in the future.
Schumer wants Apple to pledge not to use chips from CXMT or YMTC in any Apple product sold anywhere in the world. He says Apple's plan would harm the U.S. semiconductor supply chain and set a dangerous precedent for other companies to follow.
Rumors have suggested Apple is already testing chips from CXMT, and Schumer has also asked Apple to answer questions about the reported testing and the company's efforts to lobby the Trump administration to prevent national security restrictions on Chinese semiconductor suppliers.
Fueled by investment from my Chips & Science Law, workers in Central New York and across the country are carrying out the largest domestic expansion of domestic memory chip production in a generation, and American companies, like Apple, should be buying chips stamped 'Made in America,' not from companies linked to the Chinese military. I wrote my CHIPS & Science Law, so we would make American microchips again, with American workers, and not be over-reliant on semiconductors from overseas. That's why I'm leading a bipartisan group of senators calling on Apple CEO Tim Cook to commit to not using memory chips produced by Chinese military-linked companies. I've long sounded the alarm on the grave national security and economic threats posed by YMTC, CXMT, and other companies backed by the Chinese Communist Party. Apple integrating these Chinese chips into its supply chain would send a dangerous message to other American companies that they, too, should turn to Chinese-made chips.
Apple has told lawmakers that it will use the chips in devices for the Chinese market, leaving more Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron chips available for products sold in countries like the U.S. Schumer claims the limitation "cannot be expected to hold" because Apple could extend the chips worldwide with a "single procurement decision." Schumer also said supplying chips to Apple would give CXMT "revenue and reputational gains" regardless of where the chips were used.
Back in 2022, Apple attempted to ink a deal to purchase chips from YMTC, but Schumer led an effort to stop the agreement and to add YMTC to the Entity List. Schumer has also been pushing for CXMT to be added to the list, which is the action Apple is aiming to stop. Schumer has asked Apple to respond to his letter by August 21, 2026.
Other senators who signed the letter are Jim Banks, Mike Crapo, Jeanne Shaheen, Andy Kim, James Risch, and Pete Ricketts.
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