President Trump will be visiting the Mac Pro plant based in Texas, in order to promote companies in the United States that can create jobs, as well as keeping them within the country instead of resorting to offshoring. It was believed both Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook would be in attendance, with the trip involving a tour of the facility.
The White House has since confirmed to CNBC the visit is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, a date that was raised in reports on Friday. The Trump administration only confirmed the visit by Trump, not if Cook or other members of Apple’s executive team will be there, but it is likely such a high-profile visit would involve Cook.
The visit is apt, considering Apple’s proclamation the previous Mac Pro was “Made in the USA” for its launch in 2013, while the new Mac Pro will be assembled at the same Texas facility, despite earlier reports suggesting Apple would outsource production and assembly to China. Trump has repeatedly made calls for US companies to move away from China-based production and to bring manufacturing to the United States, with particular attention made to Apple both before and during his presidency.
For Apple, though, there’s an extra level of urgency. The next big round of US tariffs on China is poised to take effect on December 15th, and it could easily raise the costs of selling phones, laptops, monitors and other mainstays of Apple’s product lineup. A tour like this might help Apple persuade Trump to offer exemptions or otherwise alter the tariffs to keep costs down. Tim Cook hasn’t been shy about courting Trump even as he disagrees on key policies, going so far as to warn the President that tariffs could hurt Apple’s ability to compete with Samsung and other rivals that won’t be affected.
Whether or not Trump will be impressed is another matter. While the Austin factory isn’t the sum total of Apple-related manufacturing jobs in the US, it’s still a highly automated facility manufacturing a pro workstation. Apple can afford to assemble the Mac Pro in the US in part because it’s a low-volume product that doesn’t require a huge number of workers to build. The recent tariff exemptions made it that much easier. The plant may add jobs, but not to the degree where it’s a major contributor to the American economy.
