In January 2018, when Donald Trump had just completed a year as President of the United States, Apple announced a huge investment package "to expand its commitment to supporting the US economy and its workforce." According to their calculations, with additional investments and the normal pace of spending on national suppliers and manufacturers, the direct contribution of the Cupertino firm to the US economy would exceed "350 billion dollars in the next five years, not including tax payments, tax revenues generated by employee salaries, and product sales."
In April 2021, weeks after Biden took office, the company announced a commitment to invest 430 billion and create 20,000 positions in the next five years. And this Monday, just a month after Trump's return to the White House, the tech giant has followed suit, announcing that it will "invest over 500 billion dollars in the US" in the next five years, the largest commitment to date.
"We are optimistic about the future of American innovation and are proud to leverage our long-standing investments in the US with this 500 billion dollar commitment to the future of our country," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund to developing advanced technology in Texas, we are excited to expand our support for American manufacturing. And we will continue to work with people and businesses across the country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in American innovation."
The plans cover a wide range of initiatives, from artificial intelligence to silicon engineering, including "skills development for students and workers across the country." The company, which expects to hire 20,000 people, will expand its teams and facilities in Michigan, California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina, and Washington. Additionally, it will open a new factory in Texas and a manufacturing academy, and accelerate investments in AI and silicon engineering, as stated in the press release.
The decision is not a surprise but in any case allows the White House to claim an industrial victory. The president has been talking for weeks about an explosion of new investment, framed within his aspirations to make "America great again," with a mix of protectionism, pressures, tariffs on foreign goods, and tax cuts for companies. A few days ago, in a meeting with governors from across the country, the president had hinted at Apple's plans, but without specific details. "Yesterday I had Tim Cook from Apple in the Office, who is investing hundreds of billions of dollars... That's what he told me. Now he has to do it," he said.
Apple wants good relations with Washington, as is the case with each change of administration, and that is why it is not only redoubling efforts in traditionally Republican states like Texas but also insists that the half-trillion dollar commitment will "benefit suppliers in all 50 states, create direct employment, infrastructure, and Apple Intelligence data centers, corporate facilities, and Apple TV+ productions in 20 states. Apple remains one of the largest taxpayers in the United States, having paid over 75 billion dollars in taxes in the US in the last five years, including 19 billion dollars in 2024 alone."
These maneuvers must also be seen within a broader struggle. The major tech companies want the US government to exert much more pressure on the EU to avoid regulatory pressure, fines, and sanctions under EU digital legislation. And also in tax matters. Just last Friday, Trump signed a memorandum directing his administration to assess the possibility of imposing tariffs on trading partners, such as Spain among others, that impose limits, fees, and regulations on US tech companies, a concern for Apple, Meta, or Google.
Cook, who in 2019 showed Trump some Apple facilities in Texas, visited him before the elections at his Mar-a-Lago residence, and donated a million dollars to cover the costs of the January inauguration ceremony, sitting in the front rows, understands the rules of the game well.
Aware of the current moment, Trump's agenda, and the dominant rhetoric, the statement, for example, emphasizes that the investment in Houston, a 23,000 square meter server manufacturing plant, will bring orders to the country that "were previously manufactured outside the United States." In reality, although it depends mainly on production in Asia, especially China, Apple has shifted towards more suppliers manufacturing in the US since the pandemic.
"We are going to have many chip manufacturers and many car manufacturers coming," Trump said last Friday, suggesting that at least one company had halted plans to build two plants in Mexico. "They are going to build here instead because they don't want to pay the tariffs," he said joyfully.