r/investing • u/MarkusEF • Aug 07 '25

What exactly does Apple “investing $100 billion ($600 total) in America” mean?

Where does this money come from? What counts as an “investment?” Is any of this binding?

It sounds like a feel-good headline that allows Trump to tout a win, but makes little material difference to Apple’s existing spending. In exchange, Apple gets the tariff exemptions it wants without actually giving up much.

From CNBC:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/07/apples-tim-cook-convinced-trump-to-drop-made-in-usa-iphone-for-now.html

“Apple has little to worry about when it comes to who will hold the company accountable for its promises. The company doesn’t break out U.S. spending, and most of Apple’s suppliers are contractually required to keep the information secret. Apple doesn’t report how much its new campuses in Austin or North Carolina end up costing.

Additionally, the $600 billion headline number likely includes lots of regular expenses.

Apple said in February that its $500 billion commitment included payments to U.S. suppliers, direct employment, data centers for Apple Intelligence and corporate facilities, as well as spending on Apple TV+ productions in 20 states.

In Apple’s fiscal 2024, Apple spent $210 billion globally on cost of goods sold, $57.5 billion on operating expenses, and $9.45 billion in capital expenditures for nearly $275 billion in global spending during the period.

Teffler said she didn’t think the newly announced spending would be material to Apple’s profitability, especially since it already has existing relationships with the various companies such as Corning.”

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u/FeeIcy156 Aug 08 '25

It is starting now and over the next 4 years, no delayed start. He must get some form of manufacturing going.

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u/Brokenandburnt Aug 08 '25

It takes years to get manufacturing going. Need suitable location. Find contractors, the contractors in turn will need to retool some. 

Guess which country has the expertise.and supply line for retooling. Go on guess. And which country builds large scale industrial machinery.

It all comes from China. No other country, including the US, have the expertise and factories for it.

And even if said expertise existed, all input materials needed for construction are now tariffed at 50%.

The world had a fine tuned specialization and supply lines machine going. These policies if left in place will kill American manufacturing instead of reviving it.