In a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed optimism about the iPhone manufacturer's progress in shifting more production operations to the United States, stating that the company has made advances across multiple projects.
"Since announcing our $500 billion investment commitment at the beginning of this year, we have been continuously seeking more ways to bring production operations to the United States. Strictly speaking, this is not 'reshoring' because these production operations were never in the U.S. to begin with, right? We have identified multiple initiatives that can be advanced, and we will intensify our efforts to implement them," Cook said.
The interview took place at Corning's glass manufacturing facility in Kentucky. Apple has committed to investing $2.5 billion in this facility to produce glass for all iPhones and Apple Watches. This investment represents only a small portion of Apple's total planned investment of $600 billion in U.S. domestic manufacturing over the next four years. In February, Apple announced it would invest $500 billion, including funding for a new artificial intelligence server facility in Texas; in August, Apple announced an additional $100 billion investment in U.S. companies and suppliers.
Cook stated that he is "very satisfied" with Apple's efforts to integrate an end-to-end chip supply chain. He indicated that Apple aims to expand chip production capacity and mentioned that Apple's U.S. chip supply chain is expected to produce 19 billion chips for Apple products this year. Cook also referenced Apple's investment in TSMC's chip manufacturing facility - which will become the most technologically advanced chip facility in the United States - as well as Apple's partnership agreement with MP Materials regarding rare earth magnets.
"The United States is fully capable of conducting substantial advanced manufacturing operations competitively," Cook stated.
Cook also mentioned that Apple maintains "ongoing communication" with the Trump administration regarding investment progress. Trump announced last month that he would impose 100% tariffs on imported semiconductors and chips, but exempted companies "conducting production operations in the United States" such as Apple.
Regarding the Trump administration, Cook said: "We have a very good relationship with positive interactions. What's commendable is their strong focus on regulatory issues and their efforts to reduce the regulatory processes required for projects like new factory construction and new data center development."