Apple to invest another $100 billion into the US to avoid tariffs

Apple plans to invest an additional $100 billion in the US, the company announced on Wednesday. The investment follows President Donald’s Trump’s previously announced plans to raise tariffs on India by an additional 25 percent (bringing the total tariff to 50 percent) for purchasing oil from Russia. Apple relies heavily on manufacturers in India to create the iPhone, so adding to its already $500 billion investment in the US is likely a way to avoid being impacted by the tariffs.

„Today, we’re proud to increase our investments across the United States to $600 billion over four years and launch our new American Manufacturing Program,“ Apple CEO Tim Cook shared in a statement. „This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we’re grateful to the President for his support.“

In a statement to Bloomberg before the announcement, a White House spokesperson suggested the new investment would „help reshore the production of critical components to protect America’s economic and national security.“ The Trump administration has previously called for Apple to make the iPhone in the US, something CNN reports is difficult to downright impossible. 

In February, Apple said its original $500 billion investment plan would go towards building Apple Intelligence servers in the US, and that the majority of the new jobs the funding would provide would be focused on R&D, silicon engineering, software development and AI and machine learning. As part of this additional investment, Apple says it’s deepening relationships with components makers in the US, like Corning, Coherent and Amkor.

Apple’s current strategy for dealing with Trump is similar to how it handed the President during his first term. In 2019, Apple CEO Time Cook and Trump „opened“ a Mac Pro factory in Texas. The factory had been up-and-running since 2013, but the President was pleased by the optics of making a deal. Apple is a trillion-dollar company that can afford to spend a few billion avoiding tariffs, but it also likely planned to increase investment in the US anyway to keep up with competitors like Google and Microsoft. It’s entirely possible the company is just packaging its spending in a way that flatters the President.

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-to-invest-another-100-billion-into-the-us-to-avoid-tariffs-210250020.html?src=rss