Apple announces 'American Manufacturing Program,' additional $100B investment

ISTANBUL

US tech giant Apple announced an additional $100 billion investment package in domestic production Wednesday, bringing its overall investment in the country to $600 billion over the next four years.

The investments include a $2.5 billion commitment to produce all of the cover glass for the iPhone and Apple Watch at Corning’s Harrodsburg, Kentucky, manufacturing facility, according to a statement from Apple.

"For the first time ever, every single new iPhone and every single new Apple Watch sold anywhere in the world will contain cover glass made in Kentucky," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the investment announcement at the White House.

Cook noted that earlier this year, Apple made its largest ever spending commitment of $500 billion to the US over the next four years and that it is already yielding results.

"Earlier this year, we broke ground on a new factory in Houston to make advanced AI servers, and just last month, the very first test unit rolled off that factory's line, proudly made in America," he said.

He said that as part of the additional $100 billion commitment, Apple is also introducing its American Manufacturing Program.

"It will spur even more production right here in America for critical components used in Apple products all around the world. And we're thrilled to announce that we've already signed new agreements with 10 companies across America to do just that," Cook said.

He stressed that Apple is leading the creation of an end to end silicon supply chain right here in the US, from design to equipment to wafer production to fabrication to packaging, working with various other firms.

"We also led the way to bring TSMC to Arizona by committing to be their first and largest customer. Today, they're producing tens of millions of chips for Apple using one of the most advanced process technologies in America," Cook said, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

This year alone, American manufacturers are on track to make 19 billion chips for Apple in 24 factories across 12 states, he noted.

"Second, we're committed to buying American made advanced rare earth magnets developed by MP Materials which will become part of Apple's devices shipped around the world," Cook said.

Stating that MP is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the US, he said they will be significantly expanding their flagship facility in Fort Worth Texas, along with a "cutting edge" rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California and a third in Kentucky.

"In addition to the American Manufacturing Program, we're also significantly growing our investments in AI, including expanding data center capacity in North Carolina, in Nevada, in Iowa, in Arizona and Oregon," he added.

Earlier this year, Apple pledged to invest more than $500 billion to strengthen US manufacturing capabilities.

The iPhone maker's investment pledges came after the Trump administration's demands to Apple to move production to the US.

In May, President Donald Trump said that Apple will have to pay a 25% tariff if its iPhones are not manufactured in the US.