By Emel Akan
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 6 that Apple will increase its U.S. investment commitment by an additional $100 billion, which comes on top of the more than $500 billion in investments that the tech giant unveiled in February for the next four years.
“These investments will directly create more than 20,000 brand-new American jobs and many thousands more at the Apple suppliers like Corning, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and Samsung,” Trump said in the Oval Office, standing alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“As part of this historic commitment, Apple will massively increase spending on its domestic supply chain for the iPhone and will build the largest and most sophisticated Smart Glass production line in the world in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.”
Trump called Apple’s new investment “a significant step” toward his long-standing goal of bringing iPhone production to the United States.
As part of its $100 billion expansion, Apple will also build a 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing plant in Houston and invest billions in new data centers nationwide, including in North Carolina, Iowa, and Oregon. The tech giant will also open a manufacturing academy in Detroit.
The Aug. 6 announcement is part of Apple’s new plan to reshore more of its supply chain and business operations.
“We’re launching Apple’s American Manufacturing Program,” Cook said at the White House event. “It will spur even more production right here in America for critical components used in Apple products all around the world.”
He said Apple has already signed new agreements with 10 companies around the country.
Through this plan, Apple will also encourage more of its suppliers to relocate to the United States.
When asked whether the tech giant could deliver on the president’s wish for a fully “Made in the USA” iPhone, Cook pointed to the significant number of U.S.-made components already in Apple’s devices.
“If you look at the bulk of it, we’re doing a lot of the semiconductors here, we’re doing the glass here, we’re doing the Face ID module here,” Cook said. “So there’s a lot of content in there from the United States. We’re very proud of it. Just the final assembly that you’re focused on and that will be elsewhere for a while.”
Apple in China
In a new book, “Apple in China,” author Patrick McGee details how Apple helped develop China’s industrial base and workforce.
After China joined the World Trade Organization, Apple was drawn to what the book calls the country’s “seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor.” The company sent thousands of engineers across the Pacific, trained millions of workers, and invested hundreds of billions of dollars to build what became the world’s most sophisticated supply chain.
Despite efforts to diversify in recent years, Apple still relies heavily on China for manufacturing.
In May, Apple projected a $900 million tariff-related hit in the company’s second quarter.
Apple has shifted most iPhone production for the U.S. market to India, and nearly all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods production for the United States has moved to Vietnam, Cook announced during the second-quarter earnings call.
India has become an important hub for Apple in recent years, but new U.S. tariffs on Indian imports could disrupt the company’s strategy.
In May, Trump warned Apple that it would have to pay a tariff of 25 percent or more for iPhones manufactured outside the United States. He also told Apple’s CEO to avoid India.
On Aug. 6, Trump announced that he had raised tariffs on India to 50 percent in response to its purchases of sanctioned Russian oil.
Companies Boost Investments
Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, the United States has scored trillions of dollars in private domestic and foreign investment.
Besides Apple, Nvidia, IBM, Kraft Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, and many other companies have pledged billions of dollars for U.S. manufacturing, research and development, and the expansion of existing facilities.
“We have commitments of more than $17 trillion,” Trump said at the White House event.
Among the most notable investments are the Stargate Project, led by Japan-based Softbank and U.S.-based OpenAI and Oracle. The project includes an investment of $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Another big project was announced in April by Nvidia, a global chipmaking giant, which will invest $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next four years.
In June, Micron Technology announced that it would invest $200 billion in domestic manufacturing and production of advanced memory chips.
Andrew Moran contributed to this report.
