Tim Cook praises ‘corporate side’ of Trump tax reform, says iPhone won’t get cheaper with Apple’s U.S. investments

On the heels of Apple’s major announcements about bringing $250 billion of overseas cash back to the United States and increasing investments in the U.S., Tim Cook joined Rebecca Jarvis of ABC News for a brief interview. In the interview, Cook talks about the tax reform that led to Apple’s announcement today and whether or not it will lead to a cheaper (??) iPhone…

Regarding today’s tax announcement, Cook says it’s important to note that the new Republican tax plan has two very different parts: a corporate piece and an individual piece. He notes that while the tax reform led to “large parts” of today’s announcements, there are other things Apple would have done regardless of the tax reform.

Furthermore, when pressed on whether or not Trump’s tax bill has been a “windfall for Apple,” Cook says he does believe the corporate part of the bill is good for the economy, but he stays silent on the aspects affecting individuals:

“There’s large parts of this that are results of the tax reform and there are large parts we would have done in any situation,” Cook said. “So it sounds like President Trump’s tax bill has been a huge windfall for Apple?,” Jarvis asked.

“There are two parts of the tax bill. There’s a corporate piece and an individual piece. I do believe the corporate tax side will result in job creation and a faster growing economy,” Cook explained.

The Apple CEO is clearly dancing around the idea of directly praising Trump’s tax reform, which shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise considering the choice words Cook has had for the president in the past.

Cook also told Jarvis that just because Apple is investing more in the United States, doesn’t mean the iPhone will get cheaper. Cook explained that the phone costs “what the innovation inside” costs, and that Apple believes the iPhone is priced correctly as is.

The full interview can be seen below. What do you make of Cook’s comments? Let us know downing the comments.

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