“President Donald Trump met with Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Wednesday to discuss trade issues as the technology industry grapples with a U.S. spat over import tariffs with China, a manufacturing hub for the iPhone maker and other companies,” Roberta Rampton and David Shepardson report for Reuters. “Trump, in a morning tweet, said he was looking forward to seeing Cook. ‘We will be talking about many things, including how the U.S. has been treated unfairly for many years, by many countries, on trade,’ he wrote. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday afternoon that the meeting was under way, and that “the primary focus” was to discuss trade. A White House official said later the meeting had concluded, but there was no word yet on details of the discussions.”
“Apple, the world’s largest technology company, and other hardware makers have deep ties with China, where many of their products are built for export around the world,” Rampton and Shepardson report. “U.S. and Chinese officials have been working to resolve the dispute. On Tuesday Trump said there was ‘a very good chance’ the two countries could reach a deal as a U.S. delegation prepared to head to China in a few days.”
Looking forward to my meeting with Tim Cook of Apple. We will be talking about many things, including how the U.S. has been treated unfairly for many years, by many countries, on trade.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2018
“A White House official said Cook also met on Wednesday with the director of the White House National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow,” Rampton and Shepardson report. “Additionally, CNBC broadcast footage of him heading from the White House to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office.”
“After a rocky start during his election campaign, when Trump urged his supporters to boycott Apple and criticized the company for making its products in China, Cook has become one of his favorite go-to CEOs. He has mentioned Cook, who he has called a ‘good guy,’ by name at least 10 times during public remarks – including during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January – as well as during several high-profile interviews,” Rampton and Shepardson report. “The president frequently uses Cook and Apple as an example of how he says his tax cut package is creating jobs. Cook was among a small group of CEOs invited to Trump’s first state dinner at the White House on Tuesday night, held in honor of visiting French President Emmanuel Macron.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully Cook’s meetings today in D.C. were productive.
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