Apple said Monday it would “expend and invest” $500 billion in the US economy. He said this is a move that will make the Tim Cook-led tech giant appear to dodge the impact of President Trump's tariffs.
The Cupertino, California-based company said the plan has grown over the next four years and represents “the largest spending commitment ever.” The company will hire 20,000 new employees, build a new manufacturing facility in Houston, and build AI servers with AI capabilities on devices such as iPhones.
“We are bullish about the future of American innovation and are proud to be able to build on years of US investment,” Cook said in a statement.
Apart from the Houston facility, Apple has built an academy in Detroit to “train the next generation of US manufacturers,” increasing investment in US research and development projects, bringing its “senior manufacturing fund” to $10 billion He said he would double it.
The company will expand data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada.
Apple's stock was flat in early trading after the announcement.
Trump suggests that Apple is seeking some kind of exemption from his tariff plans.
After a meeting with Cook at the White House Last week, the president said Apple's CEO “stops two plants in Mexico” and shifted its plan to a US-based facility because he “doesn't want to participate in tariffs.”
Trump recently imposed an additional 10% tariff on all products imported from China, where Apple manufactures most iPhones and other products. The president also teased the possibility of “high” tariffs of more than 25% for computer chips used in smartphones, laptops and more.
Apple didn't say it was already planning to spend its $500 billion figure. In 2021, the company announced that it would spend $430 billion in the US over the course of six months. A similar announcement was made in 2018 during Trump's first term.
“It is unclear whether the announcement represents an accelerated spending,” said Gil Luria, analyst at Da Davidson.
“The pledge represents a political gesture towards the Trump administration,” Luria added.
Apple's latest action is “sensible strategic moves at the right time,” according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who maintained the company's “outperform” rating.
“Cook is such a strong bond despite the market agitator over AAPL's growth initiative, he is 10% politician and 90% CEO and uses this time worldwide. He continues to prove that he uses it all over the world, Ives said in a note to his client.
With post wire
