Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that he wants to keep making the Mac Pro computer in the U.S., following widespread speculation that the company would move production to China.
The announcement is an apparent win for President Donald Trump, who said this month that Apple wouldn’t receive a waiver from impending tariffs that would hit Chinese-made components used in the assembly of the desktop hardware.
“Apple will not be given Tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!” Trump tweeted last week.
Cook’s comments came during an earnings call Tuesday when he was asked if Apple would move Mac Pro production overseas in response to the tariffs.
“We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the United States. We want to continue doing that,” Cook said. “We’re working and investing currently in the capacity to do so. We want to continue to be there.”
His comments follow a report in June that cited anonymous sources saying that the 2019 Mac Pro will be assembled by Quanta Computer in China. Previous versions of the hardware were assembled in Texas.
China expert Gordon Chang recently told Breitbart that a move to China was “unbelievable,” adding “Apple has told us which side it’s on.”
Trump indicated on Friday that Apple would keep Mac Pro assembly in the U.S., telling reporters: “A man I have a lot of liking for and respect is Tim Cook, and we’ll work it out, I think they’re going to announce that they’re going to build a plant in Texas, and if they do that I’m starting to get very happy.”
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