Apple Pledges to Invest $500B in the US over the Next 4 Years. 20,000 New Employees Will Be Hired

On Monday, Apple announced that it will be investing $500 billion over the next 4 years in the US and hire 20,000 additional employees in the process.

A huge chunk of this money will go into building a new 250,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Houston that’s expected to become functional by 2026. This facility will manufacture the servers that will power Apple’s AI services and, of course, will also drive up employment at the same time.

In addition to this Houston facility, Apple will also invest in new data centers across Oregon, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada, and more.

The remaining amount will go into:

1. Building a manufacturing-focused educational academy in Michigan. 
2. The Advanced Manufacturing Fund created to boost innovation across the country.

We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future – CEO Tim Cook

Why Is Apple Suddenly Making Such a Massive Investment?

As mentioned, this is Apple’s biggest financial commitment. So, needless to say, it wouldn’t be without a good reason. The most obvious reason is Trump. The president feels that Apple’s investment is a response to his proposal of imposing an additional 10% tax on imported goods. 

Basically, after Trump came to power, he decided to impose reciprocal taxes on all trade partners of the US in order to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. Now, Apple produces most of its products in China. 

So, if Trump’s regulation goes into effect (which it will), then all Apple products from China will face an additional 10% tax. This, in turn, will jack up prices for Apple customers in the US. Something the company cannot afford to do. 

Trump feels that the only reason Apple is making this investment is to avoid the new tariff.

On Apple’s side, the company has been trying to diversify its production chain outside China for a long time now. This is primarily because of the tough times it faced when the pandemic disrupted the global supply chain. However, so far, its expansion efforts have been focused on India and Vietnam. 

Regardless of the actual reason, Apple’s decision ultimately benefits the US, which has been running on a trade deficit for years now. In fact, the last time the country had a trade surplus was in 1975. 

Moreover, the US is also struggling with debt, owing to years of fiscal deficit. In a situation like this, such a massive investment from one of the world’s biggest tech giants will certainly be a huge boost. 

Another noteworthy perspective is how this move will reduce America’s reliance on China, which are not on good terms with each other. A recent example of this is the US considering moving away from Chinese medical devices due to potential cybersecurity risks.

Read more: Apple removes cloud encryption feature from the UK