Apple CEO Tim Cook and the US President Donald Trump will inspect the Texas factory of the company next week. Although no formal announcement has been made about the tour, people who are familiar with the tour arrangements said the tour would happen as early as next week. According to the sources, the details about the tour have been concluded already, and it’s only a matter of time before the official announcement is made.
However, Apple has refused to confirm the tour. Similarly, a White House spokesperson said that there is no scheduled announcement from the House about the tour for now.
The inspection of Apple’s production factory is not just a routine tour. Apple and its management want to prove that the company is among the American companies that keep jobs in the country.
With this tour, it could enhance the already strong relationship Apple shares with Trump’s administration. Tim Cook is hoping this tour would help appease Trump to lower the high tariffs the US government placed on imported Chinese products, which is affecting Apple’s production cost. Some of Apple’s components come from China, and the higher tariffs only mean that the cost of production will increase.
The US government placed the high tariffs recently as part of the ongoing trade-off war between the two world’s economic giants.
Earlier this year, Apple filed a tariff exemptions request, outlining 15 areas where the US government could assist in reducing the burden of tariffs on Chinese goods. Shortly after that, the government approved 10 of those requests. In September, Apple announced that it’s going to go back to a contract manufacturing plant in Texas to produce its new Mac Pro desktop computer.
High Tariffs could swing the advantage to Apple’s competitor
This month, Apple has appealed to the US government on tariff waiver on Chinese-made Apple products, including iPhone components, Apple watches, and some other components of Apple’s product.
However, the trade battles between the United States and China seem to be affecting both countries. Trump’s main presidential goal is to boost the manufacturing sector by encouraging companies to keep jobs at home. However, it seems his decision to uphold the heavy tariffs on Chinese products is going against the goal. The tariffs, in billions of dollars, are part of his administration’s punishment on China for what he perceives as an unfair trade between the two countries.
But the punishment is also hurting US companies too, as Crook pointed out during a dinner with Trump in August. Apple’s products from China got a little tax relief after Cook made Trump to understand that the tariff would give Samsung (its main rival) an unfair advantage since the South Korean company would not experience such levy on its products.
Trump is hoping his administration would reach a partial trade agreement with China soon. However, he stated on Friday that he is yet to decide whether removing tariffs would be part of such an agreement.
