The Austin American-Statesman rated False a Nov. 20, 2019, tweet by President Donald Trump saying he had “opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas.” The plant he toured that day had been assembling Apple’s Mac Pro since 2013.
The plant
The facility is the Flextronics (Flex) factory in northwest Austin. Apple said the Mac Pro is designed in California, its components come from several states and other countries, and final assembly happens in Austin. Bloomberg reported that the plant had about 500 workers and was Apple’s only major device assembly operation in the USA. Most Apple products are made in China.
Background
In June 2019 the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple planned to move production of the new Mac Pro to China. Apple sought tariff exclusions for Chinese-made Mac Pro parts, and the U.S. Trade Representative granted them in September. Apple then said it would keep Mac Pro assembly in Austin; see our coverage.
Separately, Apple broke ground that day on a $1 billion Austin corporate campus for engineering, operations and support staff. It is not a manufacturing plant.
Source & credit
Source: Austin American-Statesman: “Fact-check: Did Trump open ‘a major Apple Manufacturing plant’ in Austin?”, Nov. 21, 2019.