“The $500 billion commitment includes Apple’s work with thousands of suppliers across all 50 states, direct employment, Apple Intelligence infrastructure and data centres, corporate facilities, and Apple TV+ productions in 20 states,” the company said in a release.
The Cupertino giant is also looking to double its US Advanced Manufacturing Fund, create an academy in Michigan to train new US manufacturers and grow its research and development investments in the US. Created in 2017, the fund will now cap at $10 billion from the previous $5 billion focusing on promoting advanced manufacturing and skills development throughout the country.
(Image: Apple)
The disclosure comes days after US President Donald Trump and Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook met in the Oval Office.
“He’s investing hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said after the meeting last week. He implied that the iPhone maker is investing locally because it does not want to pay tariffs. Trump has threatened an additional 10% tax on items imported from China, where Apple builds the vast majority of iPhones and other products. But he has traded investment in the US for relief in the past.
During his first administration, Cook was able to successfully sway Trump into sparing the iPhone from tariffs by arguing that the tax would serve to benefit competitors like South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. Apple also made multiple announcements during Trump’s first term about US investments and credited Trump with Mac Pro manufacturing in Texas despite its manufacturing computers there since 2013.
In exchange, Apple was able to retain its high-profit margins and avoid significantly raising product prices during Trump’s first presidency. With Trump again in office with a similar plan to push US companies to build goods in the US to avoid taxes on foreign imports, Apple is taking a similar tact with a strategic investment announcement that will meet Trump’s desires.
In January, Cook was one of several US technology company CEOs to attend Trump’s inauguration in Washington. He also met with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, after his election victory in November.
“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing US investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Cook said in a statement. “We’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation.”
Apple also shared that the production of the Houston servers will begin later this year. A 250,000-square-foot facility set to open in 2026 will generate thousands of jobs.
Along with the new facility, Apple also plans to continue expanding data centre capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada.
(With inputs from Bloomberg)
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
