Apple, as it seeks relief from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods imported from China, said that it will hire 20,000 new workers and produce AI servers in the US.

The company said Monday that it plans to spend US$500 billion (HK$3.9 trillion) domestically over the next four years, which will include work on a new server manufacturing facility in Houston, a supplier academy in Michigan and additional spending with its existing suppliers in the country. The disclosure comes days after Trump and Apple chief executive Tim Cook met in the Oval Office.

“He’s investing hundreds of billions of dollars,” Trump said after the meeting last week. He implied that the iPhone maker is investing locally because it does not want to pay tariffs. Trump has threatened an additional 10 percent tax on items imported from China, where Apple builds the vast majority of iPhones and other products. But he has traded investment in the US for relief in the past.

The US$500 billion investment and 20,000 new jobs over the next four years mark Apple’s biggest US commitment to date. Apple said it hired 20,000 research and development workers over the last five years and said in 2021 it would invest US$430 billion locally over the next half-decade.