My wild guess is that Cook cut a deal with the IRS so that they build in the US, but get tax benefits other companies don't get, so that it looks good on the administration - like the tariffs are working - and still benefits Apple.

I don't think Apple wouldn't find a cheaper place to manufacture Macs than the US. The US is literally the most expensive place to build.

That, or the Mac Minis are 100% asembled by robots, which is also a possibility.

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nessbot 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Can one "cut a deal" with the IRS without it ending up in legislation (i.e. tax law)?

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CursedSilicon 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Not without a big beautiful bribe [1] I assume

[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/737757/apple-president-donald-...

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nessbot 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Yeah, not denying the bribing. But that doesn't change tax law. It still needsto be passed by congress. Does it affect enforcement, though? maybe

	▲	CursedSilicon 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		So much of what this admin has done "needed" to be approved by congress. They're complicit in the overreach of power

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mattnewton 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Legally no, but in practice the president has been trying to assert the power to unilaterally levy taxes, even in spite of the supreme court ruling that you need the legislature to pass a tax. People still paid the tariffs. I would be extremely suprised if that's the only place this admin is trying to tax by fiat, and tax policy enforcemetn is far less visible than consumer tariffs.

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giobox 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

We already know exactly what the deal is, no need to speculate. Apple got large tariff exemptions in exchange for supporting Trump's "Made in America" agenda:

> https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-invest-american-manufacturing...

> https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/08/06/apple-exempt-from...

	▲	jgbuddy 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Isn't that the whole point of the tariff? To incentivize US investment?

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null_deref 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Non political genuine question, is building in the USA more expensive than let’s say Germany?

	▲	runako 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		No. But you have to understand that American political rhetoric only allows for things to be made either in the US or China (and occasionally Mexico). In that framework, yes the US is the most expensive place to make things.

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bdangubic 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

by IRS you mean Mar a Largo?