Retweet from Former President Donald Trump – APPLE, BRING BACK YOUR PRODUCTION FROM INDIA TO CHINA. Second, he argues that the company needs to reorient its priorities towards the United States. This announcement comes on the heels of Apple’s audacious pledge to invest $500 billion in the U.S. They released this strategy at the beginning of this year. In a 2020 White House reply to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s concerns about tariffs, Trump spoke up for the great significance of American production. He further aired his grievances regarding Apple’s overall production strategy.
At that same discussion, Trump pointed out Apple’s unprecedented investment in the U.S. He followed this up with an announcement that the company would triple its planned domestic production. He has emphasized the importance of Apple investing in manufacturing in America counter to plans to establish plants in India. “I said to Tim, I said, ‘Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us. We’re not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves … we want you to build here’” Trump remarked.
Trump’s statements are the logical conclusion of his decades-long attacks on manufacturing offshore and support for tariffs. He further pointed out that India has lured the U.S. promising them the most favorable conditions, with no tariffs. Still, he is unwilling to be optimistic. “India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world,” he noted, reinforcing his position that Apple should focus on the American market instead.
The former president shared these comments after meeting with Cook. Their first meeting at the inaugural session of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board in March 2019. In that meeting, Trump made clear he had a real “little problem” with Cook’s plans for expanding production in India. Here’s the blurb about my slight beef with Tim Cook. I told him, I said, my friend—at that time I had treated you excellent. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you constructing in India,” Trump continued.
As part of its $500 billion expansion plan, Apple is set to open a new AI server factory in Texas. The company has an incredible legacy of American manufacturing that’s the product of China’s industrial history. Now, it is under pressure to return even more operations to the U.S. This would push the cost of producing an iPhone in America to between $1,500 and $3,500—far above the iPhone’s current price points.
After all, Trump has said he wants to increase American manufacturing. This position aligns with his broader economic policy priorities and plays well with a growing, bipartisan, political and consumer demand for domestic production. The path forward for Apple’s manufacturing strategy will depend on how well it can continue to operate in these ever-shifting economic and geopolitical tides.
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