Apple has announced an expansion of its planned investment in the United States as it confronts pressures from President Donald Trump to realign its supply chain closer to American soil.
This announcement came just hours before a new wave of tariffs targeted at various countries was about to take effect.
In a show of commitment, President Trump stated during a White House event alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook, that his administration would impose a significant tariff of nearly 100% on imported chips and semiconductors, affecting products like iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.
He also emphasized that American companies that manufacture in the U.S. would not face these tariffs.
The tech giant disclosed plans to manufacture the glass covers for all iPhones and Apple Watch devices sold globally in the United States, primarily at Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, facility, under a commitment of $2.5 billion.
President Trump noted, “Apple will massively increase spending on its domestic supply chain for the iPhone and will build the largest and most sophisticated smart glass production line in the world.”
Corning has a history of producing glass products at the Harrodsburg plant for over 60 years.
It was previously stated that Corning already supplies glass for various Apple products, with every generation of iPhone glass manufactured at this location.
Apple’s partnership with Corning will lead to a 50% growth in the manufacturing and engineering workforce at the Kentucky facility, according to Apple’s news release.
During the event, Cook asserted, “I’m glad to be here with you today, and I’m very proud to say that today, we’re committing an additional $100 billion to the United States.”
He also mentioned that Apple has formed new agreements with ten companies across America for additional manufacturing efforts, coupled with a commitment to procure American-made advanced rare earth magnets.
Additionally, Apple supplier Applied Materials announced a $200 million investment into a factory in Arizona that will create chip-making equipment, which will benefit Texas Instruments, another supplier for Apple.
The glass manufacturing announcement is part of a broader commitment by Apple to invest $600 billion in the U.S.
Prior to this, the company had pledged $500 billion for investments over the next four years.
Apple is also set to build a 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility in Houston and invest billions in constructing data centers across several states including North Carolina, Iowa, and Oregon.
Although this expansion sounds promising, Cook clarified that the manufacturing or assembly of major Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad, or MacBook will not occur in the U.S. “for a while,” noting, however, that many components are making their way into the U.S. supply chain.
Most iPhones are currently assembled in India and China.
While many of Apple’s popular products are currently exempt from tariffs due to a Commerce Department investigation into their national security implications, the company has still experienced financial implications from tariffs.
Apple faced an $800 million setback in the last quarter resulting from tariffs, and it estimates an additional $1.5 billion impact in the upcoming three months.
In May, President Trump expressed his expectations for Apple to manufacture iPhones sold in the U.S. within American borders, rather than in countries like India.
White House discussions today acknowledged that while the plans might yield significant benefits, the realization of new factories may take some time to materialize.
Trump mentioned, “So I don’t know when it shows up, but there are a lot of factories and a lot of plants that are either under construction or soon we’ll be starting construction.”
He expressed optimism for the potential growth, saying, “I want to be around in about a year from now and two years from now, because we’re going to see an explosion, I think.”
Apple’s investment pledge echoes similar commitments made by other corporations under President Trump’s administration, such as those from OpenAI, Oracle, and Japan’s Softbank, which collectively promised $500 billion to develop data centers for artificial intelligence applications.
However, reports indicate that the execution of these plans faced difficulties, with announcements now only indicating a single small data center in Ohio expected to open by the end of the year.
Moreover, a trade agreement announced by the Trump administration and the European Union pointed to a projected $600 billion investment in the U.S. and an expected $750 billion in energy purchases.
Trump asserted these investments as “a gift,” stating, “They gave me $600 billion that we can invest in anything we want.”
Nonetheless, the European Union clarified that their companies have only expressed interest in such investments, stating they lack mechanisms to ensure the proposed capital outlay.
Similarly, the EU emphasized that the $750 billion figure is merely a forecast of potential energy purchases over the next three years.
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