Make America great again? Apple reportedly looking into making iPhones in the US

Remember Trump’s claim that he would make Apple manufacture their products in the US? According to a report released by Nikkei Asian Review, it might actually happen.

As a refresher, Trump, in a speech at the University of Virginia in January, said: “We’re going to get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries” and it would seem that it’s not as farfetched of an ask as we thought.

Apple has begun looking into moving iPhone production to the U.S., and “asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S. Foxconn complied while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns,” said an unnamed source.

SEE ALSO: Eye for an eye: China to take ‘tit-for-tat- road if Trump engages in trade war

TechCrunch notes that since the requests were made in June, the discussion would have happened between Apple and its key manufacturing partners during the presidential campaign period.

As Foxconn and Pegatron makes 200 million iPhones a year for Apple combined – with factories mostly in China – shifting production to the U.S. will create massive cost issues for everyone involved. Foxconn’s chairman Terry Gou shed light on the negative impact: “Making iPhones in the U.S. means the cost will more than double.”

Although there are no clear benefits to making iPhones in the U.S., Foxconn is likely working on the request (where Pegatron has declined) because Apple is its biggest customer and iPhone orders make up more than 50 percent of its sales.

I had issues w/my new iMac. A mac genius @thegrove told me: Apple isn't special—it's all made in China #MAGA #TRUMP https://t.co/CRAfjqSoiY

— Christina Carrera (@carrerapulse) November 18, 2016

TC thinks that Apple’s actions might be preemptive as forcing the Cupertino-based company to make their products in the U.S. might be one of the tech policies in the Trump administration’s pipeline, although they haven’t been implemented yet.

Apple wasn’t the only tech company under fire during Trump’s campaign, as Amazon was also picked on for having antitrust issues – to which Jeff Bezos retaliated by offering to shoot Trump into space with one of his Blue Origin rockets.

Finally trashed by @realDonaldTrump. Will still reserve him a seat on the Blue Origin rocket. #sendDonaldtospace https://t.co/9OypFoxZk3

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 7, 2015

Bezos has since taken a more neutral stance since Trump was elected, as the president-elect could cause a lot of problems for both Amazon and the Washington Post. It would have been exciting to see business moguls like Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook standing up to Trump – but it doesn’t seem like anyone in Silicon Valley is interested in picking a fight any time soon.

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