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Apple has relied on China to make iPhones, Macs and iPads for many years but the ongoing US tariff battle is forcing the company to change its production plans.
Cook has been quizzed about Apple’s reliance on China for many years.
Amid the growing tariff war with China, President Donald Trump is planning to boost local manufacturing. He has asked major companies like Apple to manufacture their products in the United States rather than China. But industry experts and critics argue that large-scale manufacturing in America isn’t practical due to a plethora of reasons. As global discussions continue, an old video of Apple CEO Tim Cook has resurfaced on social media.
Cook shed light on why the company continues to manufacture its products in China. In the short clip originally from 2024, Cook debunked the common perception of people that companies flock to China for cheap labour. He highlighted that the actual reason behind manufacturing products in the country was an extensive supply chain, unmatched manufacturing capabilities, infrastructure, and a skilled workforce in supporting Apple’s manufacturing needs.
Tim Cook said, “There is confusion about China. And let me at least give you my opinion. The popular conception is that companies come to China because of low labour costs. I am not sure what part of China they go to, but the truth is China stopped being a low labour cost country many years ago.”
In the same conversation, he went on to praise the country’s tooling expertise and concentration of highly skilled workers. He emphasised that Apple’s products require advanced tools and high precision, which China excels in. “The reason is because of the skill, the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill it is. It’s like the products we do require really advanced tooling and the precision that you have to have in tooling and working with materials that we do are state-of-the-art,” he elaborated.
In a light-hearted comparison, Tim Cook further explained the difference in available expertise between China and the US. “If you look at the US, you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I am not sure we could fill a room. But in China, you could fill multiple football fields,” he remarked.
US President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs of up to 145 per cent on Chinese imports, prompting China to hit back with tariffs of up to 125 percent on American goods. In addition to this, Trump has also introduced a 10 percent tax on imports from all other countries, though he temporarily delayed higher rates for several nations for a 90-day period.