Memory maker CXMT has waded into the Apple memory sourcing debate, suing the Pentagon for designating it as a risky "Chinese military company."
In June, Apple petitioned the Trump administration to allow it to buy memory chips from a blacklisted Chinese supplier. Now, that same supplier is bringing the fight to the U.S. government.
Memory chip producer CXMT sued the Pentagon on Friday, reports Reuters, for including it on the Chinese Military Company Blacklist, or 1260H list.
It's a list of companies that the Pentagon believes have links to China's People's Liberation Army. The companies on it are deemed to potentially be a risk to U.S. national security.
CXMT insists that it is not a military company with no affiliation with the country's army. It says it designs chips for civilian and commercial use.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, made its decision arbitrarily without any real supporting evidence. As a result, CXMT says says that it has damaged its business and reputation.
Getting off the list
CXMT has been classified as a risk by the Pentagon since January 2025, with the designation maintained in June 2026 under the Trump administration.
However, CXMT has spent over a year providing information to the Defense Department to try and convince it the classification is unjustified.
In February 2026, there seemed to be progress, as the Pentagon briefly said CXMT would be taken off the list, the company claims. However, later that day, the notice was pulled with no explanation.
In June, the Pentagon called CXMT "directly affiliated with MIIT and indirectly affiliated with SASAC," referring to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as well as the China-controlled Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
A bad list
The function of the list is to dissuade U.S. companies from buying goods from listed firms. The list doesn't specifically forbid purchases from CXMT, but there are consequences.
The main repercussion is that the Department of Defense cannot make agreements with companies that exist on the list. However, it also won't use products or services from third parties that use those components.
If Apple sells goods using the memory, it would endanger other sales to the U.S. government.
It's also not the worst list, as there's also the Entity List. Companies on the Entity List are blocked from trade with all companies in the U.S.
For Apple, if it proceeded to use CXMT, there would be a risk of the memory supplier being included on the Entity List, scuppering Apple's new supply source.
Apple's request to use CXMT as a supplier has so far been a political issue. It's had lot of pushback on the topic from Washington as well as rival memory supplier Micron.
CXMT's legal challenge forces the issue, and could make the whole debate conclude on a much faster schedule.
