US President Donald Trump is mulling whether Apple should be exempt from China import tariffs

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday **after touring a plant that assembles Apple Inc computers** that he was considering whether to exempt the US company from tariffs on imports from China. “We’re looking at that,” Trump said in answer to a reporter’s question about the tariffs, after touring **a plant in Austin** , Texas, with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook that assembles the company’s Mac Pro desktop computers. Cook, who **has a strong relationship with Trump** , has sought relief for Apple from the US tariffs, which are part of a months-long **tit-for-tat trade war** between the world’s largest economies. (Also read:  Donald Trump on Tim Cook: He is a great executive because he calls me and others don't ) [caption id=“attachment_7681101” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Trump has made boosting the US manufacturing sector one of the goals of his presidency, taking to Twitter to pressure US companies into keeping jobs at home. Image: Reuters[/caption] “The problem we have is you have Samsung. It’s a great company but it’s a competitor of Apple, and it’s not fair if, because we have a trade deal with Korea — we made a great trade deal with South Korea — but we have to treat Apple on a somewhat similar basis as we treat Samsung,” Trump said.

Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America. Today Nancy Pelosi closed Congress because she doesn’t care about American Workers!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 20, 2019

Apple announced in September **it would make its new Mac Pro computers in Austin** . The announcement came days after US trade regulators **approved 10 out of 15 requests for tariff exemptions** filed by Apple amid a broader reprieve on levies on computer parts. Earlier this month, **Apple also asked the Trump administration to waive tariffs on Chinese-made Apple Watches** , iPhone components and other consumer products. (Also read:  Apple CEO Tim Cook worried that US-China trade war could give Samsung a competitive edge: Report ) Trump has made boosting the US manufacturing sector one of the goals of his presidency, taking to Twitter to pressure US companies into keeping jobs at home. Earlier on Wednesday, Apple said it had **started construction of a new campus in Austin** that will employ 5,000 workers, with the capacity to grow to 15,000. It is expected to open in 2022.