Apple to invest $100 billion in US manufacturing to avoid Trump's new chip tariffs

Apple has announced an additional $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, a move aimed at expanding local production and avoiding new tariffs on its flagship iPhones, Bloomberg reports.

As part of the American Manufacturing Program (AMP), the company plans to move much of its supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the United States. Program partners include glass maker Corning, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments and others. Corning will dedicate an entire factory in Kentucky to making glass for Apple, increasing its workforce there by 50%.

Apple previously announced plans to spend $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, including work on a new server factory in Houston and a supplier academy in Michigan. With the new announcement, Apple's total commitment will reach $600 billion.

Bloomberg estimates that the investment could "mitigate the White House's anger" over Apple's heavy reliance on India to assemble iPhones. Analysts expect Apple to focus on high-end products, artificial intelligence labs and semiconductor development in the US, rather than mass-producing budget smartphones.

Despite the promised investment, Apple has yet to fully move production to the U.S., as Trump wants. Earlier this year, the president threatened to impose tariffs of at least 25% on Apple if the company does not move iPhone production to America.

Moving production, especially of the iPhone line, to the US would be a massive undertaking for Apple, as its factories in China and India employ hundreds of thousands of people and use highly specialized processes.

Instead, Tim Cook is trying to get tariff exemptions for the company's most important products. During Trump's first term, Apple managed to convince the president to exempt its products from import taxes.