We learned yesterday that Apple is trying to persuade the Trump administration to allow it to buy memory chips from two Chinese companies blacklisted by the Pentagon, CXMT and YMTC.
Apple previously sought permission from the Biden administration to do the same thing back in 2022, and that did not go well – despite promising to use the chips only for iPhones sold in China …
As we made clear yesterday, Apple is not legally banned from buying chips from either company. However, there are two reasons why the iPhone maker would want to seek a green light from the White House before actually doing so.
First, the Pentagon blacklist means that Apple using chips from the two companies might see iPhones being banned for use by some or all federal employees. Second, Apple tries to stay on good terms with whichever administration is in power. For those reasons, Apple is seeking official clearance.
However, we’ve been here before, and although that was a different administration, there was strong bipartisan opposition to the idea. The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence wrote then:
