Apple pledges $500bn investment in the US amid tariff threat

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Apple has announced a whopping $500 billion investment in the US economy in the next four years to avoid the looming Trump tariff, reports The New York Times. 

After taking over the Oval Office, President Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese-manufactured goods and threatened to impose a 25% tariff on foreign-made chips.

The announcement comes following last month’s meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Trump, after which Trump said Apple has a massive investment plan in the US.

The lump-sum amount will be used to establish a silicon chip facility in Arizona, a server facility in Houston, and a manufacturing academy in Detroit, creating 20,000 new jobs.

A new server manufacturing facility in Houston

The first key undertaking of this investment plan involves establishing a 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, which will be operational in 2026. 

The servers manufactured in this facility will power Apple Intelligence and the company’s Private Cloud Computers.

Apple also wants to expand its data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada.

Doubling the US Advanced Manufacturing Fund

Apple also plans on doubling its US Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which was first established in 2017 to create high-skilled manufacturing jobs across America, from 5 billion to 10 billion 

The extra billions will be allocated to producing Apple silicon chips in TSMC’s Fab 21 facility in Arizona, where mass production began last month. 

Even Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman chimed in on the matter, stating, 

The Apple Intelligence servers for Private Cloud Compute will see some production shift from China to Houston with a new Foxconn facility. The chips in the servers are M-series and continue to be produced at TSMC in Taiwan. The TSMC facility in Arizona is making older chips.

A new manufacturing academy in Detroit

Detroit is set to welcome a new Apple Manufacturing Academy. 

Although Apple has not revealed an opening date for the new academy, it has stated that it will collaborate with university experts to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in incorporating AI and smart manufacturing methods. 

The new academy will also offer free online and offline project management and manufacturing process optimization courses.

Additionally, in the next four years, Apple plans to hire 20,000 new people in tech fields such as R&D, silicon engineering, software development, AI, and machine learning.

If Apple follows through with its long-term investment plan, it will benefit the United States greatly. However, this isn’t Apple’s first rodeo. 

During Trump’s first term in 2018, Apple offered a $350 billion investment and 20,000 jobs. A few months after Biden’s inauguration, Apple announced a $430 billion investment and 20,000 new jobs over the next five years. 

Following the announcement, President Trump thanked Apple and Tim Cook in a social media post, stating that the company has faith in what Trump is doing. 

What do you think about Apple’s investment plans for the US? Do you think the company might have to put in even more money into the country? We want to hear your thoughts below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.