Apple this week confirmed that the latest Mac Pro will be produced in Austin, Texas. This comes after the Cupertino-based company managed to convince the US government to waive tariffs on components that have to be imported from China.
Apple’s stock price has suffered from the trade war between that country and the US, which resulted in the US, announcing a 10% tariff on $300bn worth of products imported from China.
When Apple initially applied for a waiver, Donald Trump posted this tweet in July: “Apple will not be given Tariff wavers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”
Apple apparently considered relocating production of the state-of-the-art Mac Pro to China. It reportedly also looked into moving as much as 30% of its production capacity to other Asian countries. So far, the company hasn’t divulged much about its negotiations with the Trump administration.
Yesterday’s statement merely said that its decision to manufacture the Mac Pro in the US was made possible by a “federal product exclusion” that it would receive for a number of core components.
The previous Mac Pro has been made in the US for six years, but the latest version contains up to 2.5 times more ‘made in America’ components.
Earlier this year, Apple called on the US government not to levy tariffs on its imports from China, adding that the only beneficiaries would be its foreign competitors. Yesterday, the company revealed that in 2018, it spent more than $60bn with over 9,000 US suppliers.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook thanked the Trump administration for its support in getting the tariffs waivered. He added that all Apple products were designed and engineered in the US, and that the company supported 450,000 jobs with American suppliers.
Cook concluded: “The Mac Pro is Apple’s most powerful computer ever and we’re proud to be building it in Austin.”