A coalition of nine US trade associations has urged the Trump administration to take immediate action on what it describes as an emerging memory chip shortage driven by the explosive growth of AI data centers. In a June 3 letter sent to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared with Tom's Hardware, the organizations — representing telecommunications providers, automakers, medical device manufacturers, and major retailers — warned that AI infrastructure deployments are consuming an outsized share of global memory production, creating supply constraints and price increases that could ripple across large segments of the US economy.
The coalition warned that the AI data center expansion, which has consumed an unprecedented share of global memory capacity, has led to a memory chip shortage that could lead to higher prices for consumer electronics, increased costs for broadband and telecommunications infrastructure, disruptions to automobile and medical device production, and delays affecting federal contractors attempting to fulfill government procurement obligations. The letter argues that these risks are emerging despite billions of dollars of US investment intended to strengthen domestic semiconductor supply chains.
