3 Stocks Investing $650 Billion in the U.S.—Should You Invest?

Key Points

• A slew of companies have recently announced billions in investments in the United States.
• Tariffs have influenced these announcements to varying degrees. Some were directly a result of Trump's policy, while others likely were not.
• What exactly are these companies spending so much money on, and how much did Trump influence each of their plans?

Many big companies have been announcing massive new investments in the U.S. Some of these investments are clearly due to tariffs and threats of tariffs made by President Trump. Others are largely independent of this.

Below is an analysis of several announcements outlining these firms' plans for the funds and the potential impact of tariffs. Together, these investments total over $650 billion going to the United States.

AAPL: Committing $500 Billion, But Trump’s Impact Is Obvious

On Feb. 24, the world’s largest company, Apple NASDAQ: AAPL, announced it would be investing $500 billion in the United States over the next four years. One thing that is important to understand about this announcement is that Apple is not moving more iPhone production into the United States. However, there is evidence that tariffs influenced this decision.

Apple manufactures much of its hardware in China because it can employ low-wage workers. Due to Trump’s 20% tariffs on China, it may seem logical to conclude that the company is now relocating these operations to the United States. However, these tariffs don’t really change Apple's calculus when it comes to considering building these products in the U.S.

The company is likely saving much more than 20% by having these items made in China. Foxconn is the company that puts iPhones together. In 2023, the hourly wage of a Foxconn worker was less than $3. That is less than half the federal minimum wage in the United States of $7.25. Additionally, Apple would likely need to pay much more than that per hour to have its products assembled by Americans.

Apple directly addressed what this investment will go toward. A part of the investment will go toward building an “advanced manufacturing facility” in Houston, Texas. This facility will make AI servers that the company will use to power its Apple Intelligence offering. This is Apple’s AI technology that it has begun integrating into iPhones. Much of the computing power for this will be cloud-based, creating a need for advanced servers that can run its AI workloads.

Still, the company notes that these servers were previously made outside the United States, indicating that tariff threats had something to do with this shift. It is also possible that Apple made this move in a bid to gain an exemption on Chinese tariffs for iPhones. In 2019, the company was able to do just that.

Remove Ads

TSMC: Tariffs Send $100 Billion to the Desert

One company’s investment was much more clearly influenced by Trump's tariff threats: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing NYSE: TSM.

Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on foreign-made semiconductors; however, he hasn’t revealed a timeline for when this might happen.

Now, TSMC is investing billions to build five new manufacturing facilities in Arizona over the coming years.

Trump mentioned multiple times in his joint press conference with the TSMC Chief Executive Officer, CC Wei, that the company made this move to avoid tariffs.

However, the President has reportedly not ruled out imposing tariffs on Taiwanese chips. It's key to note that TSMC's commitment may change if circumstances turn against it. 

SRE: “Remarkable” Opportunities Sending at Least $52 Billion to the U.S.

Utilities company Sempra NYSE: SRE has announced a massive capital plan of $56 billion through 2029. Sempra has some operations in Mexico, although the majority of its earnings come from Texas and California.

The company did not mention new tariffs during its earnings call when it announced this plan, and there is little evidence that tariffs influenced it.

The company is shifting more of its focus to the U.S. It will put at least 93% of its planned capital investment into its operations there. The Sempra Infrastructure segment houses its Mexican operations, and it will receive 7% of the spending.

However, this segment also includes U.S. operations, so some of that will also go to the United States. Overall, Sempra plans to send at least $52 billion to California and Texas.

In 2024, nearly 22% of the company’s adjusted earnings came from Sempra Infrastructure. So, the fact that just 7% over the next five years will go toward this part of the business shows how the company wants to shift more to the United States.

The firm says this is due largely to “remarkable” investment opportunities in Texas.