Apple CEO: We want to continue making Mac Pro in the U.S.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that the company is investing in U.S. manufacturing and hopes to continue to do final assembly of the Mac Pro here.

Why it matters: It was reported that Apple was asking for a tariff exemption related to the Mac Pro, but that was apparently so it could bring partially assembled goods into the U.S. for final assembly without tariffs. President Trump had tweeted in response that Apple should do its manufacturing here and wouldn't get any tariff relief.

"We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the US; we want to continue to do that," Tim Cook said on a conference call following its quarterly earnings report. "We’re explaining that and hope for a positive outcome."

Between the lines: Apple basically wants to continue what it has been doing, which is to do as much manufacturing in the U.S. as makes sense, in this case doing final assembly of the high-end desktop here, while key components remain made in China. That's the same set-up Apple has with the current Mac Pro, which is the company's only major hardware product assembled domestically.

If it faces tariffs, it could make doing so economically unfeasible and prompt the company to actually shift production to China.

Apple announced the new Mac Pro, years in the making, at its developer conference in June. It has yet to announce pricing for the desktop computer, which will go on sale later this year.

Go deeper: Axios First Look at Apple's new Mac Pro