Apple’s investment of $100 Billion in the United States eliminates Tariffs

Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced on Wednesday, 06^th. August, that his company is investing another $100 billion to expand its operations in the United States, as President Donald Trump said he would levy a large import tax on chips coming into the country. The tech giant’s decision comes after it had already committed an earlier decision of investing $500 billion in growing its domestic footprint as tariffs levied by Trump on US trading partners have cost Apple billions. The new effort involves expanding Apple’s relationship with its key domestic suppliers as Trump pressures Apple and other tech giants to shift production to the US.

In the course of celebrating this investment at the Oval Office, Trump doubled down on his tariff strategy by threatening 100% levies on semiconductors and chips made internationally. But he said that companies that have “committed” to building in the US would not face a charge. He did not say when a formal announcement of chip tariffs would come or when such tariffs might take effect; “But the good news for companies like Apple is, if you’re building in the United States, or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge”.

“President Trump shared some kind words about that work”, Cook said in reference to Apple’s previous $500 billion investment while thanking the US President Trump in the Oval Office. “But he also asked us to think about what more we could commit to doing, and Mr. President we took that challenge very seriously”.

But Cook acknowledged that an iPhone that’s fully assembled in the United States is still far out despite Trump’s push. Instead, the company is focusing on manufacturing iPhone components stateside, an approach Trump seems content with for now. “Look, he’s not making this kind of an investment anywhere in the world, not even close. He’s coming back. I mean, Apple is coming back to America”.

The $100 billion investment –

The new investment will include the launch of an American Manufacturing Program aimed at moving more of Apple’s supply chain to the United States. Apple suppliers such as Corning, Coherent, GlobalWafers America, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Broadcom will be among the first partners participating in the program. Apple intends to create a supply chain for its chips in the US through the program, saying that it expects to produce more than 19 billion chips for its products in 2025. The chips will be made in 24 factories across 12 states.

“I’m proud to say that Apple is leading the creation of an end to end silicon supply chain right here in America, from design to equipment to wafer production to fabrication to packaging”, Cook said during the event. Apple is also significantly broadening its partnership with glass supplier Corning in an ambitious expansion that will see “every iPhone and Apple Watch sold around the world” built with cover glass from Kentucky. In the process, Apple is also deepening its relationship with Coherent, which supplies the lasers that power the iPhone’s Face ID facial recognition tool.

The Trump administration has been pushing for Apple and other tech giants to produce their products in the United States rather than rely on assembly facilities and supply chain operations largely located in China, India and Vietnam.

Trump positioned Apple’s Wednesday announcement as another step toward building iPhones in the US. But experts have said doing so would be challenging because of a lack of a skilled technical workforce, and higher labour costs. Many of Apple’s key suppliers are located in Asia, meaning assembling products in the US would require shipping parts across the world.

Cook said on Wednesday that iPhones will be assembled elsewhere for “a while” but noted that many key iPhone components are going to be made in America. “Well, if you look at the bulk of it, we’re doing a lot of the semiconductors here, we’re doing the glass here, we’re doing the Face ID module here, and so there’s a ton of it, and we’re doing these for products sold elsewhere in the world. And so there’s a lot of content in there from United States”.

On Wednesday, Trump said he’s been made aware of the logistical and financial challenges that come with moving iPhone assembly to the United States. “We’ve been talking about it, and the whole thing is set up at other places, and it’s been there for a long time”, Trump said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has privately spoken with Trump to discuss the impact of tariffs on his company in recent months, according to a White House official. Cook said on Apple’s earnings call last week that he expects Apple to incur $1.1 billion in tariff-related costs during the September quarter. The announcement also comes as Trump just raised tariffs on India, where Apple assembles most of the iPhones it sells in the US. Trump also said in May that he had a “little problem” with Cook over the company’s decision to make iPhones in India. However, smartphones are exempt from Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on scores of trading partners, as well as the newly announced 25% additional tariffs on India, a key win for companies like Apple.

As part of Apple’s previous commitment to invest $500 billion in the US, the company will open a manufacturing academy in Detroit and source rare earths – which are critical for electronics like smartphones and TVs – from US-based supplier MP Materials. Apple’s latest US expansion comes as the tech stalwart has been navigating multiple challenges throughout 2025. In addition to grappling with Trump’s tariffs, the company delayed a high-profile update to its Siri virtual assistant as it faces pressure to keep up with companies like OpenAI and Google in the artificial intelligence race.

But analysts are confident that Apple will be able to avoid severe damage from tariffs, partially because of Cook’s proximity to the Trump administration. “Tim Cook is known to be the supply chain genius of technology”, Ted Mortonson, technology sector strategist at financial services company Baird, told Reporters. “And I think his whole supply chain team is well aware… before it happens, what the Trump administration is thinking and not thinking”.

Apple is just one of many tech giants that have expanded their American footprint over the past several months. Texas Instruments committed $60 billion to make semiconductors in the United States in June, and Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC invested $100 billion in US manufacturing in March. Leading AI chipmaker Nvidia also said it would build its supercomputers in the United States in April.

Team Maverick