Apple CEO Tim Cook stated on Tuesday that during a recent meeting with President Donald Trump on his tariff threats against China, he urged him to find a long-term solution for young undocumented immigrants whose status is in limbo.
Cook in late April had a meeting with the president as he was exchanging threats of steep tariffs with Chinese leaders. The trade tensions between the two nations prompted fears during that time of a potential trade war.
“I felt that tariffs were not the right approach there, and I showed him some more analytical kinds of things to demonstrate why,” Cook told Bloomberg in an interview that aired Tuesday.
Although based in California, Apple produces most of its products in China.
Cook said that during their meeting he also encouraged Trump to address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which his administration ended last year. The Obama-era program allows immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to remain in the country legally and without fear of deportation. The program officially expired on March 5, when lawmakers were unable to pass a legislative fix.
Meanwhile, federal courts have ruled that the Trump administration did not have the authority to end the program, leaving the more than 1 million immigrants who benefit from it in limbo. However, Cook warned in the interview that the courts’ decision does not serve as a long-term solution, saying “we’re only one ruling away from a catastrophic case there.”
DACA has been a key issue for the Apple CEO. Cook was one of the 100 prominent executives who wrote to Congress in January urging lawmakers to pass legislation to protect the young immigrants who benefit from DACA. He previously called the program’s future “the biggest issue of our time.”
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