Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is asking the Trump administration to impose new restrictions on ChangXin Memory Technologies, a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer that produces memory chips used in computers and smartphones.
In a letter sent Thursday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Cotton requested that the Commerce Department add CXMT to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List. Companies placed on the list generally require special permission to receive U.S. technology and equipment, and American businesses face significant limits on transactions with them.
“CXMT, one of Communist China’s national memory chip champions, poses a growing risk to our economic prosperity and military superiority.” — Sen. Tom Cotton
Cotton also wrote that the United States should prevent CXMT from expanding its position in the global market. The request came as the company develops additional production capacity for dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM, a type of chip used in electronic devices and computer systems.
Focus on advanced memory
The senator’s letter also raised concerns about CXMT’s efforts to enter the market for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. HBM is used with advanced processors in artificial intelligence systems and is a key component of data-center infrastructure.
Research cited in the coverage identified CXMT as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer. HBM is currently made primarily by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. Research Director MS Hwang of Counterpoint said DRAM is produced to a global standard and is generally interchangeable, but that the technology can also serve as a building block for HBM.
- Requested action: Add CXMT to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.
- Technology at issue: DRAM and the more advanced HBM used in artificial intelligence systems.
- Current designation: CXMT is on the Defense Department’s 1260H list of Chinese companies linked to Beijing’s military.
The 1260H designation does not impose the same limits on American companies as the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Cotton asked Lutnick to pursue restrictions on CXMT’s access to financial and technological resources, arguing that the company’s expansion could affect U.S. economic and military interests.
“The U.S. must take action to prevent CXMT from gaining a stronger foothold in the global market,” Cotton wrote. He also described the company’s push into advanced memory as evidence of China’s effort to develop semiconductor production despite limits on access to advanced manufacturing equipment and expertise.
The Commerce Department and CXMT had not responded to requests for comment carried by CNBC. The request leaves the decision on any Entity List designation with the Commerce Department.
