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With suspense and tension surrounding what would be Donald Trump’s policies on manufacturing companies like Apple, the President-elect disclosed on Tuesday that he had a phone conversation with Apple boss Tim Cook.
Trump made the disclosure during a meeting with New York Times editorial board.
According to tech website, CultofMac, the mention of Apple came when Trump was asked by Thomas Friedman about whether Trump’s plan to get companies to bring their manufacturing back to the U.S. could result in companies keeping their factories in the United States, but opting for robots instead of human employees.
“We’ll make the robots, too,” Trump was quoted as saying.
He continued: “Right now we don’t make the robots. We don’t make anything. But we’re going to, I mean, look, robotics is becoming very big and we’re going to do that. We’re going to have more factories. We can’t lose 70,000 factories. Just can’t do it. We’re going to start making things.
“I was honored yesterday, I got a call from Bill Gates, great call, we had a great conversation, I got a call from Tim Cook at Apple, and I said, ‘Tim, you know one of the things that will be a real achievement for me is when I get Apple to build a big plant in the United States, or many big plants in the United States, where instead of going to China, and going to Vietnam, and going to the places that you go to, you’re making your product right here.’
“He said, ‘I understand that.’ I said: ‘I think we’ll create the incentives for you, and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about.’”
During the campaigns, Trump talked about incentivizing companies to bring their overseas cash piles back home. While Cook has spoken in favour of the idea in the past, there is concern over the possibility of extra tariffs placed on Chinese imports which could hurt Apple, particularly if the Chinese government decided to hurt American brands in China as a result.
If Apple was made to relocate or bring majority of its manufacturing back to the U.S., it would greatly impact on the company’s profit margins.
Cook was a Hillary Clinton supporter during the election campiagns and even hosted fundraisers for the Democratic Party candidate. Now, he has to deal with a “Trump situation”.
It would be recalled that after Trump was declared winner, Cook sent a letter to Apple employees assuring them that Apple’s upward movement is still on in spite of the uncertainties of a Trump presidency.
He wrote: “I’ve always looked at Apple as one big family and I encourage you to reach out to your co-workers if they are feeling anxious.”