Donald Trump wants Apple to manufacture their cell phones in the US. Actually, he wants a whole swath of items currently being imported from China to be made in the US. Sounds simple, right. Not.

In 2021 the average American worker made $58,000 per year. The average Chinese worker made $16,000 a year. That’s about a 3 1/2 times difference. This cap is narrowing though. At one time the wage gap was about 10 times the difference.

So look at it this way. For example let’s say it cost $10 to make a product in China, based on wages in China. The same product would cost $35 if it was a manufactured in the US. So, everything else being equal, such as materials, while a cell phone imported from China would cost $1000 the same product manufactured in the US would cost the American consumer $3500.

It is simple math, Donald. The wage gap between China and the US will eventually narrow down, but it will take a while. The wage gap is even greater between the US and other Asian countries. For example, using 2021 data again while the American worker was making $58,000 a worker in India was making only two or $3000.

That is all I have for today.