PHOENIX (AP/AZFamily) — Apple CEO Tim Cook joined President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to announce a commitment by the tech company to increase its investment in U.S. manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years.
“This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America,” Trump said at the press conference. “Today’s announcement is one of the largest commitments in what has become among the greatest investment booms in our nation’s history.”
As part of the Apple announcement, the investments will be about bringing more of its supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the United States as part of an initiative called the American Manufacturing Program, but it is not a full commitment to build its popular iPhone device domestically.
“This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components — semiconductor chips included — that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we’re grateful to the President for his support,” Cook said in a statement announcing the investment.
Arizona’s impact
In late 2023, Arizona’s Family reported that the tech giant revealed it would use Amkor’s new advanced chip packaging facility in Arizona, located near TSMC, where Apple silicon is being manufactured.
Earlier this year, Apple unveiled a sweeping $500 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, including its partnership with TSMC, which employs 2,000 workers and began producing chips for Apple in January.
In recent months, TSMC announced that it would invest $65 billion to build three semiconductor fabs in north Phoenix, marking the largest investment in Arizona’s history.
READ MORE: Nvidia to manufacture AI chips in US for first time at Arizona, Texas sites
When all three fabs are operating by the end of the decade, the project is expected to create 6,000 permanent jobs and more than 20,000 temporary construction jobs.
TSMC also pledged to offset 100% of its carbon emissions, establish a worker safety committee, and invest millions into workforce development and K-12 STEM programs.
Apple’s latest moves under Trump
Apple had previously announced its intention to invest $500 billion domestically, a figure it will now increase to $600 billion. In recent months, Trump has criticized the tech company and its CEO, Tim Cook, for efforts to shift iPhone production to India to avoid the tariffs his Republican administration had planned for China.
While in Qatar earlier this year, Trump said there was “a little problem” with Apple and recalled a conversation with Cook in which he said he told the CEO, “I don’t want you building in India.”
Apple’s new pledge comes just a few weeks after it forged a $500 million deal with MP Materials, which runs the only rare earths producer in the country. That agreement will enable MP Materials to expand a factory in Texas to utilize recycled materials in producing magnets that power iPhones.
Speaking on a recent investors call, Cook emphasized that “there’s a load of different things done in the United States.” As examples, he cited some of the iPhone components made in the U.S., such as the device’s glass display and module for identifying people’s faces. He then indicated that the company was gearing up to expand its production of other components in its home country.
“We’re doing more in this country, and that’s on top of having roughly 19 billion chips coming out of the US now, and we will do more,” Cook told analysts last week, without elaborating.
How the markets reacted
Apple Inc., which is based in Cupertino, California, didn’t immediately comment Wednesday.
News of Apple’s latest investment in the U.S. caused the company’s stock price to surge by nearly 6% in Wednesday’s midday trading. That gains reflect investors’ relief that Cook “is extending an olive branch” to the Trump administration, said Nancy Tengler, CEO of money manager Laffer Tengler Investments, which owns Apple stock.
Despite Wednesday’s upturn, Apple’s shares are still down by 14% this year, a reversal of fortune that has also been driven by the company’s botched start in the pivotal field of artificial intelligence.
Bloomberg News first reported the announcement of Apple’s additional investment commitment.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
