Tim Cook details how Apple will put its $600 billion domestic manufacturing investment to work

In an interview Friday with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed the Phone maker’s plans to follow through with its enormous investment in domestic manufacturing, emphasizing semiconductor production in the U.S.

“You can add a lot by making it global and then stitching together the end-to-end supply chain in semiconductors,” Cook said. “I can’t stress how important this is and how much that will add to what we’re doing.”

In total, Apple has said it will spend $600 billion on manufacturing in the U.S. over the next four years, including a $2.5 billion expansion of its partnership with Corning, which makes glass for iPhones and Apple Watches at its factory in Kentucky. Apple also said it would work with a number of different companies to grow domestic semiconductor production, including Taiwan Semiconductor, Texas Instruments and Applied Materials.

According to Cook, Apple already does “business with 9,000 different partners across the U.S.” and “is in all 50 states with these suppliers,” adding that this work has created 450,000 jobs. Cook said the tech giant is “very proud to be expanding that further this year to the $600 billion level.”

Apple is taking steps to train more manufacturing workers, Cook said, mentioning that the company opened its own “Manufacturing Academy” in Detroit last month. According to a press release about the new training program, Apple is inviting small and medium-sized businesses from across the country to participate in workshops “designed to help American companies transition to advanced manufacturing by implementing artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing techniques.”

Apple is receiving “significant support” from the Trump administration to boost domestic manufacturing, Cook said. President Donald Trump announced last month that he would impose a 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips — except for companies like Apple that are “building in the United States.”

“The president has said that he wants more in the United States,” Cook told Cramer. “And we want more in the United States.”

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