JUST IN: Trump’s Tariffs Drive Apple To Invest $500B In Texas

Recent tariffs enacted against China by President Donald Trump appear to be generating their intended consequence: more domestic investments in the American economy.

Exhibit A is Apple, the tech behemoth worth $3.7 trillion and officially the world’s most valuable company. On Monday CEO Tim Cook announced that it will be pouring $500 billion into the U.S., including building a 250,000-square-foot AI server manufacturing facility in Houston.

Plenty of money will make quick work of the facility, which is slated to open in 2026. Over the next four years, Apple said it intends to hire another 20,000 American workers.

“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement Monday.

Most of those hired will be focused on research and development, or R&D, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning, Apple said.

The move comes after Cook met recently with President Trump, a conversation that almost certainly centered on moving some of Apple’s production stateside. The tech giant is infamous for producing most of its iPhones and other hardware in China.

Earlier this month, the president signed an executive order fulfilling his promise to institute a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports; it builds on a 25% tariff put in place during his first presidency, and both have increased the cost of making Apple products overseas.

Other parts of the company’s $500 billion investment will include work with suppliers across the U.S. and production of content for its Apple TV+ media streaming service in 20 states, as well as new hires and research and development spending, according to NBC News.

Apple said it “remains one of the largest U.S. taxpayers, having paid more than $75 billion in U.S. taxes over the past five years, including $19 billion in 2024 alone.”

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In its announcement Monday, the company also said it would double the size of its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund to $10 billion, found a new manufacturing academy in Michigan, and increase its R&D investments in the U.S. to ensure Americans take part in cutting-edge fields like silicon engineering.

Cook was not always so bullish on domestic investments. During the Obama administration, he was under tremendous pressure to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. but stated, “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” according to a 2012 New York Times report.

In contrast, Cook reached out to Trump’s team to ask for a private meeting at Mar-a-Lago following the election, and his commitment to U.S.-made products may spur other multinational companies to follow suit.

Apple’s investment is another economic win for President Trump and builds on earlier announcements by Saudi Arabia and the launch of Stargate, a $100 billion initiative by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle to drive artificial intelligence projects forward on U.S. soil.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son promised his company will work to add 100,000 new jobs in the U.S. focused on artificial intelligence and related infrastructure. The billionaire entrepreneur plans to make all investments by the end of Trump’s second term.