President Donald Trump “absolutely” believes that Apple could manufacture his iPhones and other aircraft in the United States, said press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a press conference.
We asked Leavitt if Trump thought that iPhone manufacturing is the type of technology that could move to the United States “absolutely, he believes he has the job, we have the labor market, we have the resources to do so,” she replied, also referring to the investment of $ 500 billion in the United States that Apple announced earlier this year. “And as you know, Apple has invested $ 500 billion here in the United States, so if Apple did not think that the United States could do it, they would probably not have set up this big piece of change.”
Trump plans to collect steep prices on China, Vietnam, Thailand in India, the European Union and other countries from April 9. He said that if companies like Apple did not want to pay the prices, they should make their aircraft in the United States. Despite Trump’s suggestion that Apple could move its incredibly complex supply chain in the United States, it would be almost impossible. Without taking into account the costs of such a maneuver, it is unlikely that Apple and its suppliers will be able to find enough people with the skills necessary in the United States. Cook commented manufacturing in China in 2017 and said that Apple iPhones are assembled there because China has a very advanced manufacturing.
There is confusion on China. And let me give you my opinion. The popular design is that companies come to China due to low labor costs. I do not know which part of China they are going, but the truth is that China has ceased to be the country at low cost of the workforce many years ago. The reason is due to competence, the quantity of competence in a single place and the type of competence it is.
Like the products we need really advanced tools, and the accuracy you need in the tools and the work with the materials we make are the situation. And the tool skill is very deep here. You know, in the United States, you may have a tool engineers meeting, and I’m not sure I can fill the room. In China, you could fill several football fields. It is this professional expertise is very deep.
The American secretary for trade Howard Lunick made similar comments on the manufacture of the Conhone during the weekend, as 404 media Today underlined in a song entitled “A ‘Us-Made iPhone’ is a pure fantasy.” Lutnick said that “the army of millions and millions of people kiss in small, small screws to make iPhones, this kind of thing will come to America”, suggesting that neither he nor Trump understands Apple’s operations.
404 media Underlines the list of suppliers of 27 pages of Apple (PDF), which lists the more than 50 countries from where Apple obtains components. This does not even count the minerals of rare earths which come from 79 countries, and which cannot be extracted in the United States could not avoid prices in “manufacturing” in the United States because there is no possible way that all the components of iphone can be manufactured in a single country. Even if we limit the “manufacturing” to the assembly of devices, and the United States had the required qualified employees (which it does not do), the cost of living and wages in the United States against wages in other countries would make the price of a higher American ephone.
Apple has not yet commented on the prices, but the company has stored iPhones and also plans to count on imports from India, where the prices are lower, to compensate for some of the costs associated with the imports of China.
It is true that Apple has announced an investment of $ 500 billion in the United States, but Apple will manufacture servers for its private cloud calculation system, not iPhones. Servers are a low -demand product that is not confronted with the customer.
When Apple made the Mac Pro in Texas during Trump’s first term, it was largely a failure. Apple had a hard time finding local suppliers, the importation of components in Texas caused unexpected delays and expenses, and Apple has struggled to find workers with the required skills.
Yesterday, Trump planned to take a 54% rate from China, but today he increased by 50%. From tomorrow, goods imported from China will be subject to a rate of 104%.
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