China's largest DRAM manufacturer, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), has sued the Pentagon over its designation as a company linked to the Chinese military. The lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among the defendants and argues the classification was arbitrary, lacked evidentiary support, and violated CXMT's due-process rights.
CXMT was first added to the Pentagon's Section 1260H list in January 2025 under Biden, and the Trump administration kept the designation in a June update. CXMT's core argument centers on JEDEC compliance: its DRAM chips are built to standard commercial specs rather than military-grade requirements.
These parameters include temperature tolerance, packaging, and testing. In February, the Pentagon reportedly issued a notice that CXMT would be removed from the list, then withdrew it the same day without explanation. CXMT says it spent over a year supplying the Department of Defense with information to support its removal, all without success.
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