Cotton to Lutnick: Ban Communist Chinese Memory Chipmaker CXMT from American Market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tatum Wallace or Hannah McCarthy November 12, 2026 Cotton to Lutnick: Ban Communist Chinese Memory Chipmaker CXMT from American Market WASHINGTON— Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick requesting the Commerce Department ban ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) products from the American market and deny CXMT access to American technologies. CXMT poses a growing risk to American economic prosperity and military superiority due to its ties to the Chinese Communist Party. In part, Senator Cotton wrote: “I respectfully ask the Commerce Department to add CXMT to the Commerce Department’s Entity List to broadly deny the company access to U.S. technologies and technical support, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment and tools for any CXMT fabs. I also encourage you to exercise authorities through your information and communication technology services (ICTS) office to explore a prohibition on sales of CXMT products, especially as American and allied technologies are available.” Full text of the letter may be found here and below. November 12, 2026 The Honorable Howard Lutnick Secretary of Commerce Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20230 Dear Secretary Lutnick, I write to you concerning Chinese firms threatening American dominance in the SI race. ChangXin Memory Technologies, Inc. (CXMT), one of Communist China’s national memory chip champions, poses a growing risk to our economic prosperity and military superiority. The U.S. must take action to prevent CXMT from gaining a stronger foothold in the global market. CXMT is a leading Chinese state-subsidized dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) manufacturer critical to China’s Military-Civil Fusion strategy, meaning CXMT technology could be used against American warfighters. The U.S. government has appropriately taken steps to combat the threat posed by CXMT. The Department of War designated CXMT in its Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies. The Bureau of Industry and Security’s end use controls restrict exporting a variety of advanced technologies to some CXMT fabs. Congress also curbed further government procurement of CXMT products in the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act. Despite Communist China’s continued efforts to achieve SI self-sufficiency, these actions have had real effects. Recent reporting reveals that CXMT will start producing High Bandwidth Memory 3 Extended (HBM3E). The company’s HBM3E chips perform poorly compared to competitors’ equivalents and their HBM3E manufacturing yields hover at 20 percent. This decision to move forward in less than ideal conditions highlights both Communist China’s desperation for chips and manufacturing struggles without advanced equipment and knowledge. More can be done to ensure that CXMT is cut off from the financial and technological resources that aid its supply chain and undercut American growth. I respectfully ask the Commerce Department to add CXMT to the Commerce Department’s Entity List to broadly deny the company access to U.S. technologies and technical support, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment and tools for any CXMT fabs. I also encourage you to exercise authorities through your information and communication technology services (ICTS) office to explore a prohibition on sales of CXMT products, especially as American and allied technologies are available. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Tom Cotton United States Senator ###