Apple to make new computers in Texas after US eases tariffs on parts

Apple is set to build its new Mac Pro in Austin, Texas, after U.S. trade officials agreed to exempt nearly a dozen computer parts from the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs.

Before the tariff exemptions, announced last Friday, reports indicated Apple might have been forced to move the production of its Mac Pro to China. But in an announcement on Monday, Apple said it will continue to manufacture the Mac Pro in the same Texas location where the computer has been made since 2013.

“The Mac Pro is Apple’s most powerful computer ever and we’re proud to be building it in Austin,” CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We thank the administration for their support enabling this opportunity.”

{mosads}Late last week, U.S. trade regulators approved 10 of 15 requests that Apple had filed for relief from tariffs, including requests for partially completed circuit boards and graphics cards.

President Trump has sought to put pressure on Apple and other companies to manufacture their products in the U.S. Over the summer, he rejected Apple’s request to exempt Mac Pro parts from import tariffs.

“Apple will not be given Tariff waivers, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China,” Trump tweeted in July. “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!”

In filings over the summer, Apple asked the U.S. trade representative to exclude components of the new Mac Pro from the list of products that could be hit by tariffs of 25 percent amid Trump’s ongoing trade war with Beijing.

The new $6,000 Mac Pro will include “components designed, developed and manufactured by more than a dozen American companies for distribution to U.S. customers,” Apple said in its announcement on Monday.

“The U.S. manufacturing of Mac Pro is made possible following a federal product exclusion Apple is receiving for certain necessary components,” the company said.