Apple to invest another $100B in the US
'President Trump's America First economic agenda has secured trillions in dollars in investments that support American jobs and bolster American businesses,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the Daily Mail in a statement. 'Today's announcement with Apple is another win for our manufacturing industry that will simultaneously help reshore the production of critical components to protect America's economic and national security,' she added.
Overall, Apple has made a $600 billion commitment to the U.S. over the next four years. Already, the phone and computer maker supports more than 450,000 jobs in the U.S., spanning all 50 states.
Traditionally, Apple has produced its popular iPhone in China, but more recently has moved some of its production to India. During his trip to the Middle East in mid-May, Trump admonished Cook for the India move.
'I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,' Trump said during an event in Doha, Qatar. 'I said to him: "Tim, you're my friend. You're coming here with $500 billion but now you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India,"' the president said.
In the hours ahead of the Apple announcement, Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on India after the country purchased Russian oil. The new tariff will go into effect in 21 days and will be on top of the 25 percent tariff already on Indian imports.
When Trump originally announced his 'Liberation Day' tariffs on April 2, smartphones, chips and other tech products were exempt. It appears that policy continues to hold despite the additional round of tariff threats.
No iPhones are currently made in the United States and experts have warned that doing so would increase the cost of the popular smartphones exponentially. The Chinese have mocked the idea of United States bringing back widespread manufacturing.
In April, amid Trump's trade war with China, a number of Chinese AI videos went viral that showed overweight Americans working on assembly lines. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the videos saying that 'whoever made it clearly does not see the potential of the American worker, the American workforce.'
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