Apple to keep making Mac Pro in Texas instead of shifting to China

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Steven Overly on politico.com on September 23, 2019.

Apple will continue to manufacture its Mac Pro computer in Austin, Texas, the company announced on Monday, just days after the Trump administration granted the company tariff exemptions for Mac Pro components made in China.

The US Trade Representative last week granted 10 of the 15 exemptions that Apple requested, Bloomberg reported. Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday credited the Trump administration for the company’s decision to keep assembling the Mac Pro in Texas.

“We thank the administration for their support enabling this opportunity,” Cook said in a statement.

In June, media reports indicated Apple was weighing whether to move manufacturing of the Mac Pro to China.

A month later, Trump slammed Apple on Twitter for building products outside the US and said the company would not receive relief from tariffs. He later walked back those comments.

Apple described the decision to keep Mac Pro production in Austin as part of its “commitment to US economic growth”. The company said the Mac Pro includes parts from more than a dozen US companies as well as those from global suppliers.

Cook has emerged as one of Apple’s most effective lobbyists, speaking directly to Trump and his close advisers about issues like taxes and tariffs. Cook dined privately with the president in August, the second summer in a row he has done so.

Apple boss Tim Cook urges China to keep opening its economy

Apple previously disclosed plans to spend US$350 billion in the US by 2023, a figure that includes new and existing investments.

The company also announced in December 2018 it would expand its Austin campus.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/23/apple-mac-pro-trump-tariff-1508247