YMTC Tells U.S. We'll Comply With U.S Chips Restrictions

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC), added to a trade watch list by the US government two weeks ago, has highlighted its compliance “across the globe” in the first public statement by China’s largest memory chip maker since Washington imposed sweeping export restrictions, Ann Cao and Che Pan reported for the South China Morning Post.

Photo Insert: A YMTC chip

YMTC initially kept its own counsel after it was added to the “unverified list” by the US Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 7. The company can be removed from the list if it provides the US government with more details about the end users of its products.

If it does not comply, it will be added to the Commerce Bureau’s Entity List, subjecting it to strict US export controls.

The firm’s statement late on Thursday, which included a denial that it had met with the Chinese government on US restrictions, indicates that the memory chip maker wants to avoid further punishment by Washington.

“YMTC is a commercial entity that follows global, market-based and compliant concepts,” said the company. “We’ve always adhered to the principle of legal and compliant operation across the globe since establishment.”

Analysts said YMTC will have to navigate the latest US restrictions carefully. “YMTC faces uncertainty in its business continuity and it probably will be forced to refocus on mature nodes,” said Sravan Kundojjala, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.

“It could take some time for the industry to figure out the full effects [of the latest restrictions.”

Marco Rubio, the Republican vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, sounded an alarm in September over reports that Apple would add YMTC to its list of suppliers for NAND flash memory chips that are used to store data on smartphones. Apple suspended those plans earlier this month.

Meanwhile, US suppliers KLA and Lam Research have pulled out supporting teams from YMTC facilities.

A week before the US announced the restrictions, Simon Yang, who has headed YMTC since it was founded in 2016, stepped down. Yang, who previously worked at Intel and GlobalFoundries for more than a decade, has been pushing China’s greater technological self-reliance.

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