If President Donald Trump wants Apple to bring iPhone manufacturing to the United States, America needs to open up its wallet first, according to the company that actually assembles the devices.
Foxconn CEO Terry Gou said that if Trump truly wants iPhones to be made in America, he’ll need to push new laws through Congress that offer incentives and tax breaks to foreign companies.
“Does the U.S. offer incentive programs for foreign investors?” Gou said in a recent interview with Business Insider. “They’ll need to pass bills first, and we’ll need to wait for American authorities to make a decision first.”
Foxconn recently announced its plan to build a $7 billion flat-panel screen factory in the United States. However, Gou put those plans in doubt, saying the United States will need to address “investment issues” for the deal to go through. The factory would create an estimated 50,000 U.S. jobs.
During his campaign for the White House, Trump called on his followers to boycott Apple until iPhones get made in America. He also criticized Cupertino for refusing to create a backdoor into iPhones for the FBI.
Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook have reportedly had numerous conversations since the presidential election. Bringing iPhone manufacturing to the United States won’t be easy, though. Foxconn’s Gou said the United States doesn’t have enough skilled labor for high-tech manufacturing. That’s also what Steve Jobs told President Barack Obama when he was in office.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
7 responses to “Foxconn chairman says Trump should pay to get iPhone made in USA”
I see that the Chinese are catching on to the American way. Corporate welfare is number one.
I’m interested in knowing what skills are lacking for high tech mfg. Any thoughts?
The USA lacks the thousands of engineers that run the plants.
That is what I thought I would hear. I don’t see any reason why this is insurmountable though. In the short term, immigration policies will have to support. Education in science, math and technology will have to be beefed up. Teachers are going to have to start teaching now (what a novel idea).
It’s actually an opportunity though. We don’t want to invest heavily in current manufacturing practices. We want to reboot to 2.0 and that is where the real opportunity is? Is an opportunity to reinvent.
No problem!
*snaps his finger*
Paul Ryan brings forth suitcase full of newly printed Trump-dollars.
really, oh yeah, and you dont make any money on the phone at all. Bullcrap…. you could have it made here and charge the same price and still make a profit. granted it wont be as much but it will still be a profit.
I’ve heard that the actual money Foxconn gets per phone for assembling the iPhone in China is less than $10 per phone. So lets say the assembly cost (using “GASP” robots) in the USA is $20. Oh wait – you didn’t think US manufacturing meant US factories full of ‘merican workers did you?
Call the FoxConn bluff. Would the average iPhone buyer not buy the phone if it costs more? Make the phone in the US for multiples of the Chinese assembly cost. Hell say it cost $50 more to make in the US. Its not like the Apple fanboy won’t stumble over themselves to give them the money.