The US government often abuses the concept of "national security" to suppress Chinese companies, but in the end, it ends up harming itself.
According to a report by the British 'Financial Times' on June 27, six sources revealed that US technology giant Apple is lobbying the Trump administration to obtain permission to purchase memory chips from Chinese semiconductor company ChangXin Memory Technologies. The latter was previously listed by the US on what is known as the 'Chinese Military Enterprises List' (List 1260H).
Earlier this week, Apple unusually raised the prices of MacBook and iPad. This move caused its market value to drop by $263 billion, setting a record for the second-largest single-day decline in its history. The company attributed the price increase to "in unsustainable" storage chip prices.
A source revealed that Apple had contacted the US Department of Commerce over a month ago. The company is also targeting other officials within the Trump administration as well as allies in Washington for lobbying efforts.
According to Reuters, this lobbying effort highlights a dilemma faced by major American technology giants: on one side, soaring costs of memory chips; on the other side, Washington's "national security" restrictions on Chinese chip manufacturers.
On June 25, 2026, local time, in New York, USA, Apple announced an increase in the prices of computers and iPads due to rising costs of memory and chips. Visual China
Outside of China, the memory chip industry is highly concentrated in the hands of three companies. For DRAM memory used in Apple devices, it is currently mainly supplied by Micron Technology of the United States, Samsung of South Korea, and SK Hynix.
In 2023, due to an oversupply of memory globally, the price of DRAM plummeted. Companies like Apple took this opportunity to stockpile large amounts of low-cost inventory. However, during the past three years, the boom in artificial intelligence has reversed the fate of storage suppliers. As tech giants invest billions of dollars in building AI infrastructure, the demand for high-performance memory (HBM) has skyrocketed, leading to a continuous shortage of traditional storage chips in the consumer electronics industry.
The Financial Times notes that ensuring ChangXin Storage becomes Apple's storage chip supplier will help alleviate the tech giant's current difficulties due to being squeezed by its own suppliers.
Currently, although Apple is not prohibited from purchasing chips from Changshan Memory or another Chinese memory giant, Yangtze Memory Technology, the U.S. Department of Defense has listed these two Chinese companies on what it calls the “Chinese Military Enterprises List”.
According to Section 1260H of the United States Defense Authorization Act, companies listed on such a list will not automatically trigger sanctions, but they may face numerous obstacles when entering the U.S. capital market or conducting government business.
According to reports, the U.S. Department of Commerce listed ChangXin Memory on a “Entity List” last year, which is intended to implement trade restrictions. However, the White House requested that new export control measures be postponed, as the U.S. government was in trade negotiations with China at that time and hoped to reach a trade truce agreement.
According to a report by Reuters on June 17, in order to avoid escalating tensions in Sino-US trade relations, the U.S. Department of Commerce has postponed the inclusion of more than 100 Chinese companies, including ChangXin Storage, in what is called the "entity list".
However, most people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that it is still unclear whether Apple will receive any guarantees from the Trump administration, especially assurances that the United States will not list Changxin Storage on a ‘list of entities’.
In February of this year, the U.S. Department of Defense updated its so-called “List of Chinese Military Companies”. ChangXin Memory and Yangtze Memory were removed from this list at that time. However, less than an hour later, the list was withdrawn. Several sources said that the White House was dissatisfied with the decision by the Department of Defense to remove these two companies from the list. When the Department of Defense reissued the list at the beginning of this month, both companies were reinstated on the list.
Some analysts believe that if the Trump administration approves Apple’s purchase of memory from Changxin Storage, it is likely to trigger strong opposition from the U.S. Congress.
The report mentions that in 2022, when Apple considered purchasing memory chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies for its iPhones sold in China, Rick Perle, the then Republican leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "Apple is playing with fire." He also threatened that if Apple continued to purchase chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies, it would "face unprecedented scrutiny from the federal government."
In response to the United States listing several Chinese technology companies on what it calls the “China Military Enterprises List,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated on June 9 that China has always firmly opposed the US tendency to generalize concepts of national security and to create discriminatory lists under various pretexts, as well as its unjust suppression of Chinese enterprises. We urge the US to correct its wrongful practices and stop its unjust actions against Chinese enterprises. China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
