In a bid to bring iPhone manufacturing back to the US, President Donald Trump has vowed that all iPhone production can be moved to American factories. But is this goal realistic?
Smartphones are hard to make. Like, really hard. So hard, in fact, that Apple‘s ‘30,000 Chinese engineers overseeing some 700,000 workers just to make iPhone manufacturing economically feasible’ was once admitted by Tim Cook.
The US has no such labor force, let alone engineering capacity, making it a daunting task to bring iPhone manufacturing home. However, Donald Trump and his administration continue to insist that this can be achieved, with tariffs being a key part of their strategy.
Apple has invested $500 billion in the United States, including a server manufacturing plant in Houston and an expansion of its TSMC Fab 21 silicon facility in Arizona. While these investments aim to create jobs, they are still a fraction compared to the losses incurred during Trump‘s first term, with over 275,000 government jobs cut and nearly 3 million jobs lost.
During his presidency, Donald Trump oversaw significant job cuts across various industries.
According to reports, over 1 million jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector alone between 2016 and 2020.
The automotive industry was particularly affected, with major companies like General Motors and Ford announcing thousands of layoffs.
Additionally, several coal mining companies filed for bankruptcy during this period, resulting in significant job losses in rural areas.
Manufacturing iPhones requires a highly specialized workforce, which is not currently available in the US. The globalized trade system used by Apple sources parts and raw minerals from 200 suppliers across 43 countries, many of which Trump has now decided to tax. This reliance on China’s organized economy and education system also contributes to the country’s high-skilled worker production.
The skills required for iPhone manufacturing are ‘incredible,’ according to Tim Cook, who noted that in the US, it would be difficult to fill a room with tooling engineers. In contrast, China can fill multiple football fields with skilled workers. This suggests that the US is still decades away from being able to manufacture iPhones at a competitive price.
China has one of the largest workforces in the world, with over 900 million people employed.
The country's economic reforms have led to a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and services, resulting in rapid urbanization.
Women make up nearly half of China's workforce, and younger generations are increasingly entering the job market.
Key industries include electronics, textiles, and machinery, with major cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen driving growth.
Industry analysts have likened Trump‘s plan to manufacture iPhones in America to watching an NBA game and expecting it to be easy to score a basket. The reality is that bringing iPhone manufacturing home would require significant investments, technological advancements, and a highly skilled workforce, which the US currently lacks.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump proposed a comprehensive manufacturing plan aimed at revitalizing the US manufacturing sector.
The plan focused on reducing taxes and regulations to encourage businesses to invest in new equipment and technologies.
It also emphasized the importance of renegotiating trade agreements to protect American workers and companies from unfair competition.
Additionally, Trump's plan included initiatives to improve education and training programs for workers, as well as investments in infrastructure development.
According to his campaign, these measures would create millions of new jobs and boost economic growth.
The author of this piece seems to agree with this assessment, stating that ‘this would be like me watching an NBA game, and being like, ‘oh it’s easy to score a basket.” The article concludes by highlighting the challenges and uncertainties surrounding Trump‘s tariff plan, which may not lead to the creation of jobs as promised.
- futurism.com | Trump Believes Entire iPhones Can Be Manufactured in America
