Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson, says President Donald Trump is confident Apple can move iPhone production to the US. He believes there’s enough labor and resources.
Apple plans to invest $500 billion in the US. Leavitt thinks this proves the country can handle production. She says, “If they didn’t think we could do it, they wouldn’t invest that much.”
A New York Times reporter asked Leavitt if Trump thinks iPhone production can really move to the US. She replied, “Yes, he believes we have the workers, personnel, and resources to do it.”
Some analysts disagree. They say Apple’s investment plan is something the company would do anyway. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have said for over 10 years that making iPhones in the US is nearly impossible.
In Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, Jobs explained to President Barack Obama in 2011 that the US doesn’t have 30,000 trained engineers like China does. Jobs said, “You can’t find that in America.”
Tim Cook pointed out that companies choose China because of the skilled labor and quantity of workers. He said, “Just to get a meeting with tooling engineers, it’s impossible in the US. But in China, you can fill a football field with them.”
Why the US can’t compete with China
Jobs and Cook’s comments highlight the challenges of moving production to the US. The country lacks the skilled labor and resources needed to support large-scale manufacturing.
In contrast, China has a vast pool of trained engineers and workers. This makes it an attractive location for companies like Apple.
As Cook said, “The reason companies go to China is not just about the supply chain, it’s about the skills and the quantity of the skilled workers.”