Apple vows to invest $1 billion in US manufacturing

Apple is about to invest $1 billion in the US manufacturing business, CEO Tim Cook has revealed, helping to boost the American economy and bolster Donald Trump's mission to make the country a manufacturing powerhouse.

He told CNBC's Mad Money programme that it has already started investing in manufacturing companies, with an announcement about who it has invested in later in May.

He explained that manufacturing jobs are in demand in the US, so the technology giant is making it its mission to help home-grown talent come into the fore. It also means the company can focus on offering more US citizens jobs in its ranks, Cook said.

"By doing that, we can be the ripple in the pond. Because if we can create many manufacturing jobs around, those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them because you have a service industry that builds up around them," the CEO said.

Cook went on to explain that it had already started opening up more positions for US-based talent, with two million new jobs on the horizon. However, he nudged off comments that it's a company's job to create jobs, adding that it should be part of the company's values, which runs much deeper than simply a duty.

"A company should have values because a company is a collection of people. And people should have values, so by extension, a company should. And one of the things you do is give back," he explained.

"So how do you give back? We give back through our work in the environment, in running the company on renewable energy. We give back in job creation."

Picture: Bigstock

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.