Chipmaker CXMT is blacklisted by the Trump administration due to alleged links to China's military.
According to one of the newspaper's six sources, Apple contacted the US Department of Commerce more than a month ago, but Apple also tried to exert pressure on other parts of the government in Washington.
Apple's market capitalization plummeted by $263 billion (equivalent to 2.56 trillion kronor) on Thursday after the company raised prices on computers and tablets, citing high prices for memory chips.
Apple normally buys its memory chips from US chipmaker Micron and South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix.
Neither Apple nor the White House has confirmed the newspaper's information.
