Sawt Falasteen - Apple says to invest $500 bn in US as Trump tariffs bite

The Silicon Valley-based giant said it was its "largest-ever spend commitment," which comes as tech companies battle for dominance in developing artificial intelligence technology.

The pivot to the US comes as Apple is increasingly under pressure from Trump's trade battles with China, which remains the iPhone giant's main manufacturing hub, and could be slapped with higher import tariffs by Washington.

Trump, who has pushed US companies to shift manufacturing home, claimed that his administration was to thank for the investment.

"The reason, faith in what we are doing, without which, they wouldn't be investing ten cents. Thank you Tim Cook and Apple!!!" Trump wrote in capital letters on his Truth Social platform.

The plan is essentially an acceleration of plans announced in 2021, when the company founded by Steve Jobs said that it would invest $430 billion in the US and add 20,000 jobs over the next five years.

"Cook continues to prove that he is 10 percent politician and 90 percent CEO," said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, with Cook seeking "smoother waters for Apple" amid Trump's tariff threats.

Ives added, however, that the US plans were not a signal that Apple was significantly shifting manufacturing away from China.

The announcement came days after Trump and Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook met in the Oval Office.

Apple on Monday said its 20,000 new hires would mostly focus on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning.

It announced plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, in 2026 that will assemble servers that "play a key role in powering Apple Intelligence" -- part of the company's AI products -- and would create "thousands of jobs."

An Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit is also on the cards to "help companies transition to advanced manufacturing."

"We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we're proud to build on our long-standing US investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future," Apple's CEO Cook said in a statement.

Apple's suppliers already manufacture silicon in 24 factories across 12 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah.

- Boosting spending -

In January, Cook hailed Apple's "best quarter ever" as it recorded $36.3 billion in quarterly profits.

The Americas remained Apple's largest market with $56.2 billion in revenue, while Europe showed strong growth at $33.9 billion.

The company hopes that customers are attracted to buy the latest iPhone models because of its new AI powers.

Along with Apple, other tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon are convinced that generative AI's powers are the next chapter of computing and are hiking spending to avoid being left behind.

Monday's announcement comes days after Trump said that Apple plans to invest "hundreds of billions of dollars" in the United States as he trumpeted the success of his tariff plan in boosting the American economy.

Trump suggested that more companies also planned greater investment in the United States, without giving any names.

The Republican president has wielded tariffs -- customs duties on imported goods -- as a trade weapon, imposing 10 percent levies on goods from China and threatening them on products including semiconductors, cars and pharmaceuticals.

His administration argues that the higher costs will encourage companies to manufacture in the United States instead. Critics say that tariffs could raise prices for consumers.

V.Said--SF-PST