US govt caught in fight between Apple & chip giant that paid Trump millions
Apple is lobbying the US government to allow the use of Chinese-made memory chips in its devices to mitigate rising costs and supply shortages. Micron, the primary US-based memory manufacturer, is actively opposing this, arguing it threatens domestic industry and national security.
Why it matters
This conflict highlights the tension between corporate supply chain efficiency and US protectionist policies regarding critical technology components.
Apple has spent weeks trying to convince the White House to let it buy memory chips from China. Micron has spent the same weeks trying to make sure that never happens. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the lobbying war has now landed on President Donald Trump's desk, and it sets two of America's biggest companies against each other with no tidy way out.Per the WSJ, Tim Cook and senior Apple executives have pitched Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on a plan to use chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) in Apple devices sold outside the United States. Micron, the only sizeable American memory maker left, has been working the same officials in the opposite direction.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in