Chinese memory maker CXMT sues Pentagon to get off US list

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August 29, 2026, 3:48 PM

• •CXMT filed suit against the US Department of Defense and named Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the case.
• •The company was first designated in January 2025, briefly removed in February, and added back in June.
• •A 1260H listing blocks US defence contracts and can deter investors, but does not ban private commercial sales.
• •The article describes CXMT as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM maker and says it recently became China’s most valuable listed company after its Shanghai listing.
• •Memory prices have quadrupled in three quarters as Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron shifted capacity toward AI data centres.
• •The article says Europe has no volume DRAM manufacturing and therefore imports every memory chip used in European products.

Chinese DRAM maker CXMT has sued the US Department of Defense in Washington to be removed from a list identifying it as a Chinese military company. The company says it has no ties to the Chinese military and argues that the designation has harmed its reputation and business, even though the listing does not block ordinary commercial sales. The article says investors often view the designation as a precursor to stricter US trade restrictions such as placement on the Entity List. It also argues that Europe is exposed because it has no volume DRAM manufacturing of its own and depends entirely on imported memory chips.

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