Apple has reportedly begun testing DRAM memory chips made by ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a Chinese manufacturer recently added to a US Defense Department blacklist, for use in devices intended for sale within China. According to the Financial Times, Apple has progressed to testing the chips even as it continues to lobby the US government for permission to use them, a move that matters because it places the company between ongoing US memory shortages and heightened US-China trade tensions.

The Pentagon added CXMT to its 1260H list — companies it believes are linked to the Chinese People's Liberation Army — earlier this month, having previously held off to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing. Once a little-known, loss-making firm, CXMT has become the world's fourth-largest DRAM producer after Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, has at least 15 state-owned shareholders and reportedly plans to raise $4.3 billion in an upcoming IPO. Apple is not technically barred from dealing with listed firms but could face repercussions without White House approval, and sourcing from CXMT could ease shortages that have already forced price rises across its iPad and Mac ranges. The plan is expected to draw congressional objections, with US representative John Moolenaar calling it a "grave mistake".