Bernie Sanders Wishes Apple Would Move Some Manufacturing to US and Pay 'Fair Share' of Taxes

[MacRumors]

Bernie Sanders, candidate for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination in the United States, was today queried about Apple in an interview with the Daily News, where he commented on the company's manufacturing policies and rumors that Apple dodges taxes.

When asked if Apple is part of corporate America that is "destroying the fabric of our nation," a question inspired by statements made by Sanders' himself, Sanders said he does not believe that to be the case, instead pointing the finger at big banks like JPMorgan Chase and corporations like General Electric. He went on to clarify that he would, however, like Apple to move manufacturing of some devices to the United States and pay a fair share of taxes.

No, Apple is not destroying the fabric of America. But I do wish they'd be manufacturing some of their devices, here, in the United States rather than in China. And I do wish that they would not be trying to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

Sanders is not the first presidential candidate to comment on Apple's manufacturing policies, with Donald Trump also claiming he would force Apple to manufacture its products in the United States.

Though the bulk of Apple products are manufactured overseas, Apple has in fact made an effort to move some production jobs back to the United States, something that Sanders and Trump both appear to be unaware of. Apple's Mac Pro line of computers is assembled by Flextronics in Austin, Texas, an effort that cost Apple $100 million. Many third-party components used in Apple devices are also created by suppliers located in the United States, as Re/code points out. Corning's Gorilla Glass, used in iPhones and iPads, is made in Kentucky, for example.

In a December interview with Charlie Rose, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave some color on why Apple products are made in China. "It's skill," he said, going on to explain that China has focused heavily on training people to create machinery and parts for electronic devices.

The US, over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills. I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we're currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.

When it comes to taxes, Tim Cook has previously said that Apple pays all of the taxes that it owes. During the same December interview, he said accusations Apple avoids taxes on revenue held overseas is "total political crap." "There is no truth behind it," he said. "Apple pays every tax dollar we owe."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Bernie Sanders Wishes Apple Would Move Some Manufacturing to US and Pay 'Fair Share' of Taxes

 

[acctman]

go away Bernie

 

[Tymbo]

Trump 2016

 

[drumcat]

Bring those suicide nets home. Made in the USA!!

 

[Corrode]

What's he talking about? They make the 10 Mac Pros they sell every year in America.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Sorry Bernie. That's not going happen.
[doublepost=1459895220][/doublepost]

Trump 2016

Glad you want this country to fail

 

[chirpie]

Sorry Bernie. That's not going happen.

It's a self-fulling prophecy if you do nothing.

 

[erzhik]

Bernie is insane. Does he really think that all major corporations and rich people will move their money to US banks so that they can pay ridiculous taxes that he is proposing? He and his supporters are insane.

"Hey guys, move everything (cash, production) to US, so that I can tax you 60%. You'll give away all of your money, but at least you can tell people that you manufacture in US"

 

[ericgtr12]

LOL.. that picture though, right? Guess we don't have to wonder where MR stands on the issue.

 

[Glideslope]

What a great image !!! LMAO. Well done MR.

 

[Izauze]

Geezus. Nice choice of picture. Let us know how you REALLY feel, macrumors!

 

[clayj]

I'd love to see some of Apple's more liberal fans try to reconcile THIS.

 

[drewyboy]

This makes my blood boil. Typical "fair share" crap. No one ever has an answer on what that should be with the ability to defend it.

 

[Technarchy]

I'd love to see some of Apple's more liberal fans try to reconcile THIS.

"I'm totally a liberal, right up until a liberal policy makes my annual iPhone purchase more expensive"

Something like that probably...

 

[killawat]

Man whats up with everyone being all up in Apple's Koolaid about where it manufactures it's products and that not being in the US. Why not harass manufacturers of toaster ovens or washing machines. Bring THOSE back to america.

If I were president I would ORDER Apple to release the Skylake Macbook Pro, today. We know it's in there and the people want it.

Killawat for President.

 

[jonnysods]

What's he talking about? They make the 10 Mac Pros they sell every year in America.

Haha maybe they have production issues.

 

[Izauze]

Bernie > Hillary > Kasich > puddle of slime > Trump > Cruz (who actually believes with the fury of god all of the insane things that Trump just pretends to for money/power/votes)

 

[Eraserhead]

Bring those suicide nets home. Made in the USA!!

You do realise Foxconn has always had a lower suicide rate than all fifty US states, the U.K. And Oxford and Cambridge universities (for starters)

 

[macduke]

Apple pays what they owe due to loopholes in the tax code. What we need is a reasonable plan to close down those loopholes slowly over a period of years. Then we need a reduced tax holiday for corporations to repatriate cash that escaped through the loopholes. Lastly, I think Apple will continue to move production back to the states, or perhaps even into many different countries to minimize shipping cost and carbon footprint. If you look at that new robot that disassembles and recycles iPhones, it's difficult to not see similar technology being put to use to completely build the same devices in the future. It won't create as many jobs, but it will be more efficient.

 

[Eraserhead]

This makes my blood boil. Typical "fair share" crap. No one ever has an answer on what that should be with the ability to defend it.

You do realise that the number of truly rich with their money offshore is far smaller than even 1%....

 

[nunes013]

Well maybe instead of just saying it, come out with a plan. If you want Apple to get rid of the tax havens then lower the cooperate tax rate and close the loop holes. I don't understand how for business taxes, there are not levels. Like if your business brought in $A - $B you owe this, $C - $D you owe this etc. This way it would work with small businesses and large businesses. Close the loop holes and lower the tax rate to have Apple bring its off shore money here. I am sure Apple would do this is in a heart beat if the rates were right. But you know in Gov't, why would anyone think of doing anything with common sense like meet with the cooperations to discuss a plan.

 

[Bbqthis]

Bernienomics. Not too far off from Kevin Malone math. "A mistake plus kelevin gets you home by seven"...

 

[swingerofbirch]

I don't see how it's skill.

It's free trade and the power of agglomeration (which basically means that a geographic region gains inertia that is hard to stop unless the cost of doing business in another area becomes significantly less expensive).

 

[jclo]

LOL.. that picture though, right? Guess we don't have to wonder where MR stands on the issue.

What a great image !!! LMAO. Well done MR.

Geezus. Nice choice of picture. Let us know how you REALLY feel, macrumors!

Picture used in the post is not in any way reflective of the political views of MacRumors employees, I chose it because it's the image that was shared alongside the original interview. I'm going to swap it out with something else as it shouldn't be a topic of discussion.

 

[drewyboy]

You do realise that the number of truly rich with their money offshore is far smaller than even 1%....

I'm not understanding your point. Could you clarify?