The US government has reportedly removed ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) from a restricted Chinese tech firm list, according to a revised Pentagon Section 1260H document. The document, which designates Chinese companies with alleged military or communist party connections, no longer features the two memory and storage makers.

The removal comes amid shifting trade dynamics as more mainstream computer memory manufacturers exit China. While CXMT and YMTC were previously under scrutiny, the apparent lifting of blacklist status could make it easier for Western OEMs to acquire DRAM from CXMT and NAND from YMTC. However, YMTC remains on the US Commerce Department's watchlist as a potential threat to regional supply chains.

This development follows reports that major PC manufacturers like ASUS, Acer, Dell, and HP were exploring CXMT DDR5 and DDR4 memory lines amid shortages. The Hefei-based CXMT has recently advanced into mass production of HBM3 and is reportedly collaborating with Huawei on the next-gen Ascend 950 AI accelerator, which could attract renewed Pentagon scrutiny despite the apparent delisting.