In Latest Empty Promise, Apple To Announce Another $100 Billion Investment In US Manufacturing

President Donald Trump will announce that AI laggard Apple will commit to spend another $100 billion on domestic manufacturing, the latest (unforceable and thus meaningless) pledge by the tech giant to increase US production of its products as it seeks to avoid punishing tariffs on its flagship iPhones.

The announcement scheduled for 4:30pm ET at the White House on Wednesday includes a new manufacturing program designed to bring more of Apple’s supply chain to the US, with an eye toward manufacturing additional critical components domestically, according to a White House official who detailed the announcement on the condition of anonymity.

Tim Apple and Donald Trump

“President Trump’s America First economic agenda has secured trillions of dollars in investments that support American jobs and bolster American businesses,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said 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.”

As Bloomberg reminds us, earlier this year, Trump warned that he would hit Apple with a tariff of at least 25% if it didn’t move manufacturing of the iPhone to the US, a day after meeting with CEO Tim Apple Cook at the White House.

Cook has led a push by Apple to win a carve-out for its iPhone product line, with phones currently primarily manufactured in China and India. The company previously announced it plans to spend $500 billion in the US over the next four years, which will include work on a new server manufacturing facility in Houston, a supplier academy in Michigan and additional spending with its existing suppliers in the country. Wednesday’s announcement will bring Apple’s cumulative commitment to $600 billion, the White House said, all of which is just empty promises until Apple actually does something besides just talk. 

The announcement comes with Trump readying plans to unveil a tariff on all products containing semiconductor chips as soon as next week. Separately, the president’s country-specific tariffs on dozens of trading partners are set to take effect on Thursday.

During Trump’s first term, Apple was able to win tariff carveouts for its products. If Cook is able to do so again, it could help the company avoid tariff costs that analysts expected to erode profit margins and increase consumer costs — or even offer a competitive advantage over foreign rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The Apple event is the latest in a flurry of announcements Trump has made alongside corporate leaders who have said they plan to increase their US presence. Earlier this year, Trump announced a $100 billion “Stargate” investment in artificial intelligence data centers from Oracle, SoftBank and OpenAI — with a goal of increasing the total to at least $500 billion — a bid to boost American innovation in technology and artificial technology. OpenAI and Oracle later announced they will develop 4.5 gigawatts of additional US data-center capacity in an expanded partnership. Last month we reported that, like all other ridiculous promises, virtually none of this massive Stargate promise will actually come to fruition. 

The president has also ramped up partnerships with key players in the chip industry, announcing that Nvidia plans to produce as much as half a trillion dollars’ worth of AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years through manufacturing partnerships.

Trump has also made securing investments a key part of negotiating with other countries on geopolitical issues, such as trade.

Part of the US’ deal with the European Union included an agreement from the EU to purchase $750 billion in American energy products and invest $600 billion in the US, while the president’s deal with Japan includes the creation of a $550 billion fund to make investments in the US. And all of these “deals” are, you guessed it, nothing more than unforceable hot air.