President-elect Donald Trump pledged that he would “get Apple to start making their computers and their iPhones on our land, not in China,” and now he’s put this to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
See also: Could Trump be the catalyst for an all-American iPhone?
According to a transcript in the New York Times, Trump had this to say:
“Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States, where instead of going to China, and going to Vietnam, and going to the places that you go to, you’re making your product right here.”
Cook offered an abrupt response:
“I understand that.”
Trump went on to discuss possible tax incentives that might be in the pipeline:
“I think we’ll create the incentives for you, and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about.”
According to Jason Dedrick, a professor at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, shifting the assembly to the US would add $30 to $40 to the overall cost, partly down to increased labor costs, but also because of increased transportation and logistics overheads.