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[TECHNOLOGY] · United States, China · 11 sources

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CXMT sues Pentagon over Chinese military company designation

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China's leading manufacturer of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Defense. The company is seeking to overturn its designation as a ‘Chinese military company,’ a classification that can lead to government contracting restrictions and significant reputational damage.

CXMT argues that the Pentagon's decision is arbitrary, lacks evidentiary support, and violates the company's due process rights. The firm maintains that its DRAM chips are designed and sold exclusively for civilian and commercial applications, such as smartphones, personal computers, servers, and artificial intelligence systems, and have no military utility. The company further stated it has no affiliation with the Chinese military.

The designation was originally applied during the Biden administration in January 2025 and was maintained by the Trump administration during a list update in June 2026. CXMT noted that after spending over a year providing information to contest the label, the Pentagon issued a notice in February 2026 suggesting the company would be removed from the list, only to retract that notice on the same day without explanation.

The lawsuit names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi as defendants.

Entities

ChangXin Memory Technologies · Michael Cadenazzi · Pentagon · Pete Hegseth · Steve Feinberg · U.S. Department of Defense

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