US Commerce Secretary Lutnick tells Apple to avoid Chinese memory chips, but rules offer no enforcement lever
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Wall Street Journal on 14 August that the Trump administration opposes Apple buying memory chips from Chinese firms CXMT and YMTC, but current US export rules do not give him a legal mechanism to block purchases of off-the-shelf components.
Lutnick's warning to Apple
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal on 14 August that the Trump administration opposes Apple buying memory chips from Chinese manufacturers. Lutnick, who had visited an Apple production facility in Houston, said the message had been delivered to Apple directly. When the Journal asked whether he had put the objection to Apple himself, he answered with one word: "Plainly."
Two Chinese manufacturers are at the centre of the dispute: CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC). According to sources close to Apple, the company has been testing memory chips from both firms for possible integration into Apple devices sold in China. Lutnick said there have to be other solutions to the memory shortage.
The Trump administration is not in favor of that.
The regulatory gap
Despite Lutnick's firm stance, the rules as they currently stand do not give the Commerce Department a mechanism to block what Apple wants to do. YMTC sits on the Commerce Department's Entity List, while CXMT does not. The Pentagon has designated both as Chinese military companies, but that designation conveys concern rather than imposing a ban on commercial purchases.
US regulations require American companies to request a government licence before sharing product details and specifications with CXMT and YMTC, a step indispensable if the Chinese manufacturers were to produce customised chips for the iPhone. Apple, however, can buy off-the-shelf memory from both companies and negotiate the price, because no current regulation stops it. The objection from Washington is political rather than legal.
- Apple asks Commerce Department for assurance that CXMT will not be added to the Entity List
- Lutnick visits an Apple production facility in Houston
- Lutnick tells the Wall Street Journal the administration opposes Apple buying Chinese memory chips
Apple's response
Apple's chief operating officer, Sabih Khan, declined to confirm that Apple is testing Chinese memory chips. He told the Journal that the scale of the global chip shortage means the company must evaluate all options, including pushing existing suppliers to raise US production.
We have to look at all options.
Khan then noted that while Apple customises many components inside the iPhone, "there isn't a lot of customization" for memory, alluding to the possibility of using commodity Chinese memory chips that require no shared design information. That distinction matters: commodity parts need no shared design information, so no licence is required, and no moment arrives where Commerce could step in. What Lutnick has is a strong opinion and a public platform; what he does not have, on the rules as they stand, is an enforcement mechanism.
Background and broader pressure
Apple went to the Commerce Department early in the summer of 2026 seeking a guarantee that CXMT would not be added to the Entity List. That request has now been answered in public, and the answer is no, though it arrived as a preference rather than a rule. The pressure on Apple's supply chain follows surging demand for microprocessors needed for AI data centers, which has driven chip prices sharply higher.
According to previous reporting by the Wall Street Journal, laptop manufacturers HP and Acer have already begun using CXMT memory chips in devices sold outside the United States. Donald Trump has pushed for a consolidation of domestic semiconductor production, placing companies like Intel at the centre of his strategic plan.
