Cook Suggests Apple Will Invest In, Not Build New US Plants

UPDATE 8/2: During Apple's quarterly earnings call Tuesday night, Tim Cook was asked about President Trump's assertion that Cook had promised to build three big "beautiful" plants in the US. Cook suggested that Apple was more likely to invest in existing plants than build new, large-scale facilities of its own.

"We purchased last year about $50 billion worth of goods and services from US-based suppliers. Some significant portion of those are manufacturing-related, and so we've asked ourselves what can we do to increase this," Cook said.

He pointed to the company's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which will distribute at least $1 billion to American manufacturers. In May, it gave Corning $200 million for a Kentucky glass-processing plant; Corning glass is used on iOS devices.

"We think there's more of these that we can do," Cook continued. "I think there are probably several plants that can benefit from having some investment to grow or expand or even maybe set up shop in the US for the first time, so we're very excited about that."

Also last night, Politico got its hands on the full transcript from the Wall Street Journal Trump interview in question. When the Journal asked Trump where Cook would build the Apple plants, Trump responded "We'll have to see."

"You'll have to call him," Trump said of Cook. "I mean, maybe he won't tell you what he tells me, but I believe he will do that. I really believe it."

Original Story:
President Donald Trump really wants Apple to manufacture its iPhones and other gadgets in the US. He might soon get his wish.

The president in a Tuesday interview with The Wall Street Journal said the Cupertino tech giant is planning to build three "big," "beautiful" manufacturing plans in the US. Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment and declined to comment when contacted by the Journal.

"I spoke to [Apple CEO Tim Cook], he's promised me three big plants—big, big, big," Trump said, according to the report. "I said you know, Tim, unless you start building your plants in this country, I won't consider my administration an economic success. He called me, and he said they are going forward."

The president's revelation comes after Cook during a May interview with CNBC announced that Apple was creating a $1 billion fund to boost "advanced manufacturing" in the US. Apple already committed $200 million of that fund to Gorilla Glass-maker Corning Incorporated.

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Meanwhile, Trump has been pushing for this for a while now. In November, the then president-elect said he spoke with Cook and asked him to bring more of the company's manufacturing to the country. Trump said he promised Cook and other tech companies incentives for manufacturing stateside, including "a very large tax cut for corporations." According to Trump, Cook responded with "I understand that."

Steve Jobs in 2011 reportedly scoffed at the idea of bringing iPhone production to the US when asked by President Obama what it would take to make that happen. "Those jobs aren't coming back," Jobs said at the time.

The vast majority of Apple's products are assembled in China by Foxconn.

Trump on Tuesday also confirmed an earlier report that Foxconn is planning to build a plant in the US, according to the Journal. The newspaper on Sunday reported that Foxconn is "nearing a decision" to build a plant in Wisconsin where it will produce large-screen TV display panels.