Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT filed a lawsuit asking to be removed from the U.S. Department of Defense's blacklist of "Chinese military-supporting companies."
According to Bloomberg on the 29th (local time), CXMT recently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, seeking to overturn its blacklist designation.
CXMT was briefly removed from the blacklist in February, then put back on in June. The list at the time also included Chinese NAND flash company YMTC, as well as e-commerce company Alibaba and electric-vehicle maker BYD.
CXMT argued it was wrongly included on the blacklist, saying it designs civilian and commercial, not military, semiconductors as a corporations.
In a statement after filing the lawsuit, CXMT said, "CXMT is not a defense contractor and has nothing to do with the Chinese military," adding, "Since first being designated for sanctions in Jan. 2025, we have suffered continuous damage to our reputation and business." It added, "We took this step to protect the company's reputation and business interests."
The U.S. Department of Defense uses the blacklist to designate Chinese corporations it deems linked to the Chinese military. Being listed does not mean an outright ban on transactions with U.S. corporations. However, the corporations cannot enter into direct contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, and starting next year, purchases of products and services through third parties will also be restricted.
Beyond direct transaction restrictions, being blacklisted can weigh on a corporations' ability to attract investment and conduct external transactions. U.S. investors see it as a red flag, and it could lead to tougher trade and investment sanctions later. In addition, private corporations that do business with the U.S. Department of Defense may shy away from transactions with the Chinese corporations in question.
Meanwhile, CXMT is considered a key corporations in China's drive for self-reliance in chip technology. It was founded by Zhao Weiming, who built a career in chip development in the United States, and is rapidly boosting its production capacity and technology in the global DRAM market led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Recently, Apple was reported to be considering using memory produced by CXMT to respond to rising memory prices.