Trump fears being overtaken by the Chinese on major technology fronts such as communications and AI. He has admitted as much in several tweets (for example his, 'not on my watch' comments).
He using Huawei as a pawn in trade negotiations while simultaneously trying to kill the company and stopping it from pulling even further ahead.
At the same time he is concerned about an economic slowdown being directly connected to his actions. He is already pointing the finger at a few local scapegoats.
Time flies and he has less of it with each passing day. The trade war with China was supposed to be quick and easy to win (his own words) but has proved to be anything but.
He is becoming more unpredictable by the minute (to the point of people in his own administration supposedly not knowing what he thinks from one day to the next and therefore unable to take decisions) and leaving a trail of damaging tweets in his wake (for example, 'I hereby order...') that only serve to make things worse.
130 U.S companies have requested licences to do business with Huawei. Not one has been granted. That's 11 billion dollars of lost trade from ONE single company having a massive impact on 130 U.S companies. As a result Huawei has already responded with its very own 'bye, bye American Pie' and declared it will be free of U.S dependence in two years max. If those U.S businesses can scrape back some of that hardware business (licences permitting) it will be just that, scrapings.
Boeing knows it could also see billions in business lost.
Google is quaking in its boots right now. It has tried to sit in the shadows on the monopolistic front but Trump has dragged it out to bathe in the spotlight as the world sees the potential immediate impact of not having a Google licence can have in the smartphone industry. Not only that but Huawei is prepping a universal open source OS that could easily end up on a third of the world's smartphones and other smart devices.
Just like the Chinese government, I think Tim Cook would also prefer to sit things out and hope for a new watch leader, but the damage has already been done and largely (and ironically) on Trump's watch.
He seems to have forgotten that the U.S trade deficit is not so much with China as with the entire world which is duly taking note of his 'clobbering time' negotiating 'tactics' and is very unimpressed.
The recent G7 summit made things crystal clear. He can't have his cake and eat it and that will slowly become clear to him. However, he will never admit that, so he will just blame someone else.
If he doesn't get re-elected someone else will have to bend over backwards to repair the damage and even then, things will never be the same. Wheels have been put in motion that cannot be stopped.
The global supply chain will remain global but much less of it will be dependent on U.S companies. Apple could shift things around a little but not in response to Trump. I've long said that having all its chip manufacturing in one company is a mistake, but not for political reasons
Given the changes in communications and AI that we are about to see, it could be worse timing to have all this happening.
Yes, that's all true. Every word. But, I think, it omits one critical thing: Trump now realizes that he's not only losing this war but he has pretty much already lost it. China is powering on while Trump is getting hammered from every direction. Aside from all the CEO's and industries begging him to stop he will soon be facing the possibility of having to explain his TrumpTax on many consumer goods to an irate public. Plus, he is heading the U.S. into recession and he knows that his re-election won't happen if the U.S. is in a recession next year -- and he knows the Fed won't bail him out of this mess. At best, they'll go through the motions. The final straw was the G7 where not even his BFF Boris supported his trade war! So he now knows he's going this alone -- opposed by the world leaders, U.S. industry and, soon, U.S. consumers.
So, he invented a fake phone call from China where they are supposedly begging for a deal. Then, he cancels his travel plans and goes to isolated Camp David instead so he can supposedly monitor the hurricane (since when has he cared about natural disasters?). But he is most likely taking personal charge of China negotiations -- because he now likely realizes that his hardline negotiators will NEVER reach a deal. And he knows: No deal = No re-election.
But, no matter what comes out of this, one thing is certain: Trump will claim he saved the U.S. from the evil monster.
In all the documentary footage that I've seen of Apple and other factories, individual workers are doing small repetitive tasks. Circuit board assemblies are more than likely completely automated and assembling an iPhone from the few boards and battery is actually quite easy. Now the individual parts may still need to be manufactured elsewhere, but the automated manufacturing and the assembly could be done in the U.S., in Europe and elsewhere if there's a will. Due to the automation, it might not actually create all that many jobs.
The real issue is that while Chinese wages have increased over the years, it's still cheaper than the U.S., there are no labor unions to contend with and workers work 6 day weeks and 10 hours a day. So I think Apple is being disingenuous.
I also think the "lack of skill" argument is bogus because of the above, because of the examples that Christopher126 gives and because manufacturing output in the U.S. actually peaked two summers ago, but it didn't result in a lot of job growth because so much was automated.
I have always felt that manufacturing should take place near where the products are sold so that the communities where the products are purchased get the benefit of the jobs.
And if Apple really cared about the environment, they wouldn't create products that can't be repaired by third parties and where end users can't replace/upgrade battery, memory and storage.
I also think Apple is holding out to see if Trump isn't re-elected with the expectation that if he isn't and especially if the Senate flips, all of the tariffs will disappear with the next administration. Or that Trump will change his mind again as he often does or that they'll actually be an agreement with China.
Everything you've said makes so much sense, and I'm kind of hoping that Trump holds on a little while longer to his decision so that companies like Apple can actually feel the pinch and move manufacturing into the US- for the environment's sake. It might not create a lot of jobs, but it goes some way into protecting the environment. And maybe, now Apple can focus on creating products that have longevity built into them owing to cost-effectiveness and environmental considerations.
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So, he invented a fake phone call from China where they are supposedly begging for a deal.
Then, he cancels his travel plans and goes to isolated Camp David instead so he can supposedly monitor the hurricane (since when has he cared about natural disasters?). But he is most likely taking personal charge of China negotiations -- because he now likely realizes that his hardline negotiators will NEVER reach a deal. And he knows: No deal = No re-election.
But, no matter what comes out of this, one thing is certain: Trump will claim he saved the U.S. from the evil monster.
Everything you've said makes so much sense, and I'm kind of hoping that Trump holds on a little while longer to his decision so that companies like Apple can actually feel the pinch and move manufacturing into the US- for the environment's sake. It might not create a lot of jobs, but it goes some way into protecting the environment. And maybe, now Apple can focus on creating products that have longevity built into them owing to cost-effectiveness and environmental considerations.