Apple Seeks Trump Waiver to Buy RAM from Blacklisted Chinese Supplier

*Apple has asked the administration for an exception that would let it source memory chips from CXMT despite the firm’s Pentagon blacklist status.*

Apple is petitioning the Trump administration for permission to purchase RAM from CXMT, a Chinese memory maker barred from certain U.S. business over alleged ties to the People’s Liberation Army. The request comes as rising memory prices have already forced Apple to increase prices across most of its product line.

The company is not legally prohibited from dealing with CXMT. Six people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that Apple made the approach to ease supply-chain pressure caused by the global memory shortage. CXMT remains on the Pentagon’s list, however, which carries clear reputational and political exposure even if no formal sales ban applies to Apple.

Both reports trace the same basic facts to the Financial Times without adding new technical details or volume figures. No statements from Apple, the White House, or CXMT appear in the coverage so far.

Why it matters

Apple’s move shows how acute the memory-price spike has become for a company that normally controls its component costs tightly. If the waiver is granted, other hardware makers facing the same cost curve will likely file similar requests, turning a narrow supply decision into a broader test of how far the administration will bend its own blacklist rules when large U.S. firms feel the pinch. The outcome will also signal whether reputational risk still deters business with firms tied to the Chinese military when component costs rise sharply.

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Sources:

• The Verge
• AppleInsider

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