Apple Is Keeping Mac Pro Production in Texas

By Matthew McMullan
Sep 24 2019 |
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That’s good, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Good news from The House That Steve Built:

Apple is gonna make the new version of its Mac Pro computer in Texas, just like it did with the last version.  

To be more specific it will be assembled there, and not by Apple itself but by a contracting company called Flex. Computers are the result of a global supply chain, with their hundreds of parts coming from everywhere. It’s like listing names out of an atlas. But that’s a notable turnaround: Apple had plans to send the production of the Mac Pro – a specialized machine used by people who generally need a lot of computing power – to China as recently as a few days ago. It changed its mind when it secured tariff exemptions from the Trump administration for a few of the Mac Pro’s parts that come from China. The administration, in case you hadn’t heard, has, uh, raised a couple of tariffs here and there on Chinese imports.

Does this mean electronics manufacturing is shifting back to the United States? My friend, it does not. China has spent years as the world’s manufacturing hub for these industries, and complex economies and production chains have built up there as a result. The administration’s trade war with China isn’t unfounded, but tariffs alone aren’t gonna reroute tech production into the United States. AAM President Scott Paul was asked about it by the Washington Post, and he said:

“Over the longer term we’re going to need much broader policy shifts to keep American high tech manufacturing jobs here.”

So Apple is keeping its only product production line in America. That’s good news, but let’s not mistake it for a trend.