Trump expects Apple to build manufacturing plant in Texas

AppleInsider

President Donald Trump, in response to questions regarding a tweet on Friday proclaiming Apple will not receive tariff relief for its new Chinese-built Mac Pro, said he believes the tech giant will erect a manufacturing plant in Texas.

Apple CEO Tim Cook visits Austin, Texas, Mac Pro assembly plant in 2014.

In a brief aside to reporters gathered at the White House, Trump again called on Apple to build its products in the U.S. and said he believes the tech giant will announce construction of a new plant in Texas, reports Reuters.

While the president has in the past lobbed pointed comments urging Apple and other consumer electronics makers to pull manufacturing operations from Chinese contractors and put that work into American hands, today's comments alluded to a more well-defined plan. Specifically, Trump seems to be eyeing Texas as a domestic equivalent of Shenzhen.

Trump failed to elaborate on his hunch regarding Apple's supposed Texas plant, but the company does maintain a large presence in the state. Beyond existing office space, Apple last year announced plans to expand with a $1 billion campus in Austin. It should be noted, however, that the scope of existing and future facilities is at this point limited to research and development, operations, cloud computing and other areas not related to manufacturing.

Apple's current Mac Pro is assembled in Austin by contract manufacturer Flextronics, but its recently announced successor will be built by Quanta Computer in a plant near Shanghai.

The switch to Quanta exposed the upcoming professional-level desktop to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, duties Apple is attempting to sidestep in a plea to the White House. Apple's official request is awaiting review, but Trump in a tweet on Friday publicly opposed the request.

"Apple will not be given Tariff wavers [sic], or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China," Trump stated on Twitter. "Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!"

That said, Apple is unlikely to invest in U.S.-based production facilities anytime soon. Despite harrowing tariffs imposed as part of the U.S.-China trade war, Chinese manufacturing is in many ways superior to stateside counterparts.

Compared to the U.S., China offers relatively cheap, high-quality and, perhaps most importantly, responsive labor. Apple production partners like Foxconn can deploy tens of thousands of workers on short notice, and run production facilities around the clock to meet strict deadlines.

Apple CEO Tim Cook consistently touts China's workforce and at a recent economic development conference described the country's capacity to build technologically advanced products as unrivaled. Cook offered a more succinct explanation of Apple's reliance on Chinese suppliers in a 2017 interview.

"The popular conception is that companies come to China because of low labor costs. I'm not sure what part of China they go to, but the truth is China stopped being the low labor cost country years ago," Cook said. "That is not the reason to come to China from a supply point of view, the reason is because of the skill."

Whether Apple wants to -- or can afford to -- transfer production stateside as a cost-cutting measure remains unknown.

stevenoz

Ignore Donald. He's almost gone.

We need good and beneficial relationships with China and other trading partners.

If Apple wants to build a factory in Texas, great, if it works for Apple. But don't do it for Donald.

macxpress

Trump is also living a fantasy dream too! Even if Apple did, I bet it would most be ran by robots so in the end, very little jobs would be created and most of the parts would come from China anyways so what different does it make? Apple should spend Billions to create 50-100 jobs? Just doesn't make business sense. 

AppleExposed

Trump snaps his fingers and expects an Apple plant to appear in Texas.

stevenoz said:

Ignore Donald. He's almost gone.

We need good and beneficial relationships with China and other trading partners.

If Apple wants to build a factory in Texas, great, if it works for Apple. But don't do it for Donald.

Years ago people questioned why Trump wanted Apple to build in the U.S. and yet allows Chinese knockoffs to sell in the U.S. without requiring them to also do so.

All-Purpose Guru

The problem with building a plant in Texas is that pretty much ALL the infrastructure needed to SUPPLY that plant is in China, and that infrastructure would cost billions and billions of dollars to bring here, and isn't even part of Apple.  Even the trashcan Mac Pro currently built in Texas is built of subassemblies and parts made overseas.

There was a story a while back about how even the precision SCREWS needed to assemble the iPhone can't be made in the US any more and would have to be sourced from China or elsewhere.

Trump is a real estate mogul.  He has NO idea how manufacturing actually works.

virgilisleading42

News flash: President of a country advocates for companies to make things in their country and supply jobs to their people. These comments seem like the don't throw the baby with the bathwater situation.

JWSC

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

GeorgeBMac

JWSC said:

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

Generally speaking:   American workers are fat and lazy and American executives greedy b's who only care about their next quarterly bonus and the value fo their stock options.

America was built by hungry workers working for committed, dedicated owner/managers with vision and long range goals -- From Carnegie to Jobs.  When we get back to that, the jobs will return.   Not before.

.

We can make all the excuses.   But the fact remains:  the jobs went to those places who did the best, cheapest work -- despite our protectionist tariffs.  And, they won't be coming back until we can make things better and cheaper -- even if we try protectionist tariffs -- again.

LordeHawk

We do need beneficial trading partners, but a relationship is a two way street, China can’t be allowed to take advantage of the US.  This isn’t anti-China, or political, just common sense.

Speaking to the actual post, it would be inspiring to see Apple pull off the automated manufacturing facility they attempted in the 80s.  Even though this isn’t Apple’s business model, it would be a testament to modern manufacturing.

AppleExposed

LordeHawk said:

We do need beneficial trading partners, but a relationship is a two way street, China can’t be allowed to take advantage of the US.  This isn’t anti-China, or political, just common sense.

Speaking to the actual post, it would be inspiring to see Apple pull off the automated manufacturing facility they attempted in the 80s.  Even though this isn’t Apple’s business model, it would be a testament to modern manufacturing.

Apple may be forced to do just that and guess who wins?

Not employees.

SpamSandwich

stevenoz said:

Ignore Donald. He's almost gone.

We need good and beneficial relationships with China and other trading partners.

If Apple wants to build a factory in Texas, great, if it works for Apple. But don't do it for Donald.

That’s a laugh. He’ll easily sail to another 4 year term. Mark my words.

cartoonspin

It doesn't matter if you support the President or not.  China will not blink.  There have been two extensions with no results.  This is a matter of national pride for China and they will not blink.  So here we are waiting for a real resolution that will not happen.

tzeshan

JWSC said:

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

You seem like a young person that don't know US recent history. US economy never worked out of greedy of CEOs, CFO. US steel industry did not move out of US but they can hardly make good profit without government protection. Why is that? US auto industry mostly stayed in US. But Chrysler was near insolvent in the early 80s. GM wen bankrupt not long ago, Why is that? Do you know US experience high inflation in late 70s and early 80s? Why is that? Because US labor unions are very strong and greedy. Until Reason quashed them and allowed US companies to move out US in large scale. According to your thesis, the first step that China is able to attract foreign companies is cheap labor. Does US satisfy this requirement now? 

tylersdad

GeorgeBMac said:

JWSC said:

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

Generally speaking:   American workers are fat and lazy and American executives greedy b's who only care about their next quarterly bonus and the value fo their stock options.

America was built by hungry workers working for committed, dedicated owner/managers with vision and long range goals -- From Carnegie to Jobs.  When we get back to that, the jobs will return.   Not before.

.

We can make all the excuses.   But the fact remains:  the jobs went to those places who did the best, cheapest work -- despite our protectionist tariffs.  And, they won't be coming back until we can make things better and cheaper -- even if we try protectionist tariffs -- again.

You're a disgrace. I don't know how you can disparage American workers this way. Do you seriously expect American workers to do the same job for what the Chinese pay their workers? The cost of living isn't even close to what it is here in the US. Do you expect US workers to work for less than what it costs them to live? 

Bonkers. Absolutely bonkers. 

genovelle

JWSC said:

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

The truth is about economies of scale. These companies build for far more companies than Apple and that’s why they have so much access to labor and parts. We don’t have workers willing to work for the wages that make these pocket computers or super computers affordable to the masses. 

flydog

JWSC said:

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

It’s pretty easy to spew out these illogical rants. A lot harder to research, learn the facts, and apply sound reaasoning to those facts. 

Bottom line is that the US lacks the labor force required to build electronics on the scale needed by Apple.  Has nothing to do with “selling out.” 

Apple spends billions of dollars a year in the US on infrastructure, labor, and taxes.  Adding a money losing factory in Texas will only reduce that economic benefit. 

rob53

Has anyone been watching the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai? They broke ground in January 2019. This is a huge facility and the outside is already finished. They've moved inside and as of July 19, "The final closure of the Gigafactory 3 façade and the installation of doors and windows. It indicates that the Tesla G3 will soon begin to install equipment such as auto robots."

Tell me what American company could do this in the same amount of time. If you think Chinese workers can't build anything then look at 90% of the things in your house. They were built by Chinese workers. American manufacturers gave up years ago. All we employ now are stupid MBAs. There used to be a time when the United States was trying to work with other countries for the good of the world. Not any more and that's just plain stupid and selfish.

tylersdad

rob53 said:

Has anyone been watching the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai? They broke ground in January 2019. This is a huge facility and the outside is already finished. They've moved inside and as of July 19, "The final closure of the Gigafactory 3 façade and the installation of doors and windows. It indicates that the Tesla G3 will soon begin to install equipment such as auto robots."

Tell me what American company could do this in the same amount of time. If you think Chinese workers can't build anything then look at 90% of the things in your house. They were built by Chinese workers. American manufacturers gave up years ago. All we employ now are stupid MBAs. There used to be a time when the United States was trying to work with other countries for the good of the world. Not any more and that's just plain stupid and selfish.

This has nothing to do with the ability of American companies versus Chinese companies and everything to do with the fact that building factories in China is FAR easier because they don’t have the same environmental restrictions we have in the US. Do they have to do environmental impact reports? No. Do they have the same permit process we have here? No. 

Get rid of those restrictions and American companies would be able to compete. There would be a level playing field. The field right now is anything but level. 

mjtomlin

GeorgeBMac said:

JWSC said:

So, Tim is right, as far as his statement goes.  But let’s not forget who built up China - American bean counters who, it turns out, really didn’t know which beans they should be counting.

First it was, ‘Chinese labor is cheap’ so let’s manufacture there.  And then ‘oh crap, the Chinese don’t have proper infrastructure’ so let’s get them started with that.  Then more second tier Chinese suppliers sprung up, and more infrastructure was put in place.  And then large regions such as Shenzhen turned into massive draws for subsistence farmers looking for a better life.  And they morphed into a large and highly skilled labor force.  And then even more infrastructure was put in place.

But the bean counters neglected to take full account of the logistics needed to ship all the bits and pieces all around the world.  And what might have worked OK 20 years ago is woefully out of date today.  But we can’t change our sourcing now.  China has the infrastructure, right??!

So yea, China has all that going for it now.  I begrudge them not.  But the US, and Europe, can and should have that too.

All the excuses in the world can’t take away from the fact that American CEOs, CFOs and their assorted bean counters sold out their communities and their company rank and file to get a few extra pennies on the dollar out of product so they could please their stockholders and get those extra bonuses, while their US factories got shut down and their once loyal employees got a pick slip.  That’s a f-ing bitter pill to swallow.

Tim, do better!

Generally speaking:   American workers are fat and lazy and American executives greedy b's who only care about their next quarterly bonus and the value fo their stock options.

America was built by hungry workers working for committed, dedicated owner/managers with vision and long range goals -- From Carnegie to Jobs.  When we get back to that, the jobs will return.   Not before.

.

We can make all the excuses.   But the fact remains:  the jobs went to those places who did the best, cheapest work -- despite our protectionist tariffs.  And, they won't be coming back until we can make things better and cheaper -- even if we try protectionist tariffs -- again.

This... have you seen this latest generation of Americans...spoiled, entitled, self-centered and don’t want to do anything. They have no work ethic whatsoever... I wouldn’t count on any labor jobs coming to America anytime soon, unless we reopen our borders and let those in who will actually work for a paycheck.

Unfortunately for Trump, his “Make America Great Again” won’t really happen if he keeps the real American workforce on the other side of a giant wall.

Soli

rob53 said:

Has anyone been watching the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai? They broke ground in January 2019. This is a huge facility and the outside is already finished. They've moved inside and as of July 19, "The final closure of the Gigafactory 3 façade and the installation of doors and windows. It indicates that the Tesla G3 will soon begin to install equipment such as auto robots."

Tell me what American company could do this in the same amount of time. If you think Chinese workers can't build anything then look at 90% of the things in your house. They were built by Chinese workers. American manufacturers gave up years ago. All we employ now are stupid MBAs. There used to be a time when the United States was trying to work with other countries for the good of the world. Not any more and that's just plain stupid and selfish.

It's amazing* how much work has been done this year, but I do think that's not even half of the proposed footprint of the building.

* It's even more amazing when you consider that Elon Musk is a "scam artist" and a "charlatan"… at least by many people on this forum. 

swSteve

So Apple doesn't want to build a $6,000 - $35,000 computer
in the USA because it might cost them an extra dime?