14 DAY TRIAL // One of the promises that Donald Trump made during his presidential campaign was that he’d try to force Apple to move production of its iPhones in the United States, in an attempt to create jobs locally and support the economy.
And according to Donald Trump himself, the US President-elect is going forward with his plan, as he recently discussed with Apple CEO Tim Cook the possibility of starting production of devices in the United States.
Trump told the New York Times that he promised to offer incentives that would make transferring production of iPhones to the United States extremely compelling for Apple.
“I got a call from Tim Cook at Apple, and I said, ‘Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States, where instead of going to China, and going to Vietnam, and going to the places that you go to, you’re making your product right here,’” he said in a statement.
Tim Cook still not convinced
Tim Cook, on the other hand, was fairly reticent on the possibility of moving production from China to the United States and provided just a simply “I understand” reply to Trump’s remarks.
“I said: ‘I think we’ll create the incentives for you, and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about,’” Donald Trump continues.
Even if Donald Trump himself wants Apple to transfer iPhone production to the United States, it’s not all that easy, as the Cupertino-based firm is having a hard time convincing suppliers to do that.
Previous reports have indicated that Apple already discussed the possibility of moving at least part of production to the United States, but its existing suppliers already refused, citing the high costs as the main reason.
Apple is believed to be looking into its options when it comes to President-elect Donald Trump’s demands, but more information will most likely emerge in the coming weeks as discussions advance.