Chinese memory ban would cut off RAMpocalypse relief

Two up-and-coming Chinese memory vendors, YMTC and CXMT, could offer customers relief from shortages and skyrocketing prices, but not if US Representatives John Moolenaar (R-MI) and George Whitesides (D-CA) have anything to say about it. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made public on Thursday, the lawmakers urged the Trump administration to tighten restrictions on Chinese memory manufacturers, arguing that purchases of their chips by US companies would undermine Western memory makers and subsidize the People's Liberation Army. Founded in 2016, the companies are relative newcomers to memory manufacturing. CXMT produces dynamic random access memory (DRAM) used in everything from desktops and laptops to smartphones and servers, while YMTC produces NAND flash for storage applications. Historically, CXMT and YMTC’s chips have trailed those from American and South Korean memory vendors like Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung. But amid surging memory prices, several large PC manufacturers, including Apple, Dell, and HP, have reportedly begun qualifying the two companies’ memory for use in their products. “US reliance on Chinese memory producers will expose Western manufacturers to a deluge of state-subsidized Chinese memory, putting our memory manufacturing base and supply chains at risk,” they argued. Unlike logic chips such as CPUs and GPUs, memory is a commodity manufactured to a common spec. While different chipmakers may make it to market with new products faster than others, ultimately they’re all building the same thing. This makes it relatively easy to switch from one supplier to another based on whoever is offering the best price. Moolenaar and Whitesides contend that China could subsidize memory exports in order to drive down average selling prices to the point that it’s no longer profitable for US and allied memory makers. “Given these risks, we urge you to oppose efforts to facilitate the sales of Chinese memory chips abroad and further expand exist