Terry Gou, the chairman of Foxconn, is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday in Washington, Nikkei reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the plan.
Foxconn is Apple’s primary iPhone factory partner, and employs more than 1 million people in China who assemble iPhones as well as electronics for other companies. It’s the largest contract manufacturer in the world.
While the report doesn’t reveal what the two will talk about, Trump has called for more manufacturing to happen in the US – and has even personally told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he wants assembled-in-the-US Apple products. Trump has also threatened to tax Chinese imports.
The two could also discuss Toshiba spinning out and selling subsidiaries including Westinghouse, which makes sensitive nuclear technology. Foxconn has separately been trying to purchase Toshiba’s semiconductor unit.
In January, Gou said that Foxconn was considering building a factory that makes flat-screen panels in the US.
Last year, Nikkei reported that Apple had asked Foxconn (and Pegatron, another factory partner) to explore the possibility of making iPhones in the United States. Experts say that a made-in-US iPhone is unlikely because of increased labor costs.
“And I told [Tim Cook], I said, ‘Tim, it’s going to be a big achievement the day you start building some of your big plants in this country instead of other countries.’ And I think he’s got his eyes open to it. I think he’s got his eyes open to it,” Trump said in an interview with Axios in January.
In March, Trump got a personal iPhone.
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