The whiplash is the point of the lawsuit. ChangXin Memory Technologies was told last February that its spot on a Pentagon blacklist was being removed, and told again the same day that it was not. Four months later the listing was quietly restored, and now the DRAM maker has taken the fight to federal court.
Filed in the District of Columbia, the case targets the Section 1260H designation that puts CXMT among companies Washington links to China’s military. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is the named defendant. CXMT argues the label is arbitrary, rests on no evidence, and violates due process, after more than a year of the company handing over documents meant to clear its name.
A 1260H spot bars defense contracts and warns off investors while leaving ordinary commerce untouched. Industry watchers treat it as a runway toward the Entity List, which would cut off suppliers outright. CXMT insists its DRAM is built strictly for civilian buyers.
The timing is no accident. CXMT just posted first-half revenue of RMB 150B, roughly $22.4B, an 874 percent jump, and swung to a RMB 77.6B profit. It ranks as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM maker and, since mid-August, China’s most valuable listed company.
Alibaba filed a similar challenge in June and has won nothing yet; Xiaomi got itself removed in 2021, while Pentagon spokespeople stay silent on the new filings.
