On August 14, 2026, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made clear that the Trump administration is « not in favor » of Apple purchasing DRAM and NAND memory chips from Chinese manufacturers ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC). This decision puts Apple in a difficult position, forcing it to turn to costlier alternatives at a time when AI-driven demand is pushing memory prices sharply higher across the industry. CXMT was added to the Pentagon’s Chinese Military Companies list in 2025, while YMTC has been on the Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2022. A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter on July 29, 2026, demanding that Apple abandon its plans to source from these suppliers, citing national security concerns.
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