Senators Demand Apple Commit to Not Buying Chinese Memory Chips

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.

What happened

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.

Practical impact for readers

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.

Details worth verifying

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.

Who should act or wait

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.

What is still unclear

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.

Source notes

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