Apple Is Moving Its Mac Pro Production From US To China

Published on June 30, 2019

Most owners of Apple products are aware that the company famously assembles most of its products in China. The Mac Pro, however, was a major exception to that since Apple started making it back in 2013. The Mac Pro, Apple’s most expensive computer, has been assembled in the United States in a Facility in Austin, Texas since it first started making the machine. Apple now plans on moving that production to China despite major trade tensions that are escalating between the United States and China.

Apple’s Involvement In The Trade War

Trade tensions between the United States and China have been escalating since President Trump took office back in 2016. Trump, who has been raising tarriffs on imported goods coming from China in an effort to encourage companies to supply their products from manufacturers local to the United States, has also been encouraging Apple to move much of its production to the United States. Most of Apple’s products are assembled in China and have been for many years now.

While the products may be assembled in China, they’ve been manufactured in the United States for years. Outsourcing the assembly process allows the company to keep prices down (as much as they can, that is). President Trump’s latest threat regarding the trade war is to raise the tax on items that are imported from China by 25 percent. Apple warns that an increase in tariffs would create an inflation of Apple products. The company has considered moving assembly out of China, but not back to the United States.

Apple has looked into moving the assembly process on some of its products from China and into other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam. Moving the assembly process to the United States may raise the prices on Apple products as the cost of labor in the United States is much higher. “We’re going to get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries,” said Mr. Trump during his campaign in 2016.

Apple’s Response To Requests To Move Assembly Back To U.S.

Apple plans to move the assembly process of the Mac Pro’s production to China. However, it still leaves much of the production in the United States. “Like all of our products, the new Mac Pro is designed and engineered in California and includes components from several countries including the United States,” the company said in a statement. “Final assembly is only one part of the manufacturing process,” the statement said.

The new Mac Pro was unveiled earlier this month, but doesn’t go on sale until later this year. As Apple’s most expensive piece of tech ever, it’s also its most powerful. Apple’s earnings have been below expectation over the last few quarters. The company can’t afford to make costly decisions to move more production into the United States. It has to cut corners where it can to keep the prices of its products down. Apple may not be the only company seeing repercussions from the trade wars. But its certainly been at the forefront of it all in recent months.

Julia Sachs is a former Managing Editor at Grit Daily. She covers technology, social media and disinformation. She is based in Utah and before the pandemic she liked to travel.

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