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Cotton Asks Commerce to Give a Chinese Chipmaker the Unwelcome List

November 12, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST · New York time

Sen. Tom Cotton is urging Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to add Chinese memory maker CXMT to the U.S. Entity List. The request comes as CXMT expands in DRAM and moves into high-bandwidth memory, CNBC reported. The Entity List is a trade-control tool, and a senator's request is not the same thing as a Commerce Department decision. Cotton's appeal places the company within a wider U.S. debate about semiconductor capabilities and trade with China. Memory is a critical component of computing hardware, even if it receives less public attention than the processors and products built around it. A company moving into different kinds of memory can therefore attract attention from both technology buyers and policymakers. The distinction between a request and an adopted restriction matters to businesses watching what rules actually apply. The department must decide what, if anything, to do; the senator can ask, but he cannot make the list merely by sending a message. Washington is fond of treating lists as routine administrative furniture. In semiconductor policy, however, the guest list can shape the conversation before anyone gets near the hardware. Cotton has made his preferred seating arrangement clear, while Commerce still holds the pen.

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