Last Friday President Trump had dinner with Tim Cook, aka “Tim Apple.”

The dinner came on the heels of USTR Lighthizer announcing a postponement of “next step” 10 percent tariffs against Chinese manufactured products… Interestingly, the one of the product groups within the delay is personal computers…. Interestingly, Tim Apple was going to launch production assembly of the Macintosh personal computer in China.

Now, consider this:

CHINA – When ground was broken in March 2017 for a new US$9 billion factory owned by a subsidiary of Foxconn Group, the event was witnessed by then Guangdong party secretary Hu Chunhua and Terry Gou Tai-ming, the Taiwanese billionaire who created Foxconn, the world’s largest assembler of Apple’s iPhones and tablets.

Now, after two years of construction in the Guangzhou suburb, the plant’s main structure is completed, and on a recent visit trucks were seen going in and out of a gated compound.

Workers at the site said production lines were being shipped in and installed so the factory could start producing liquefied crystal displays with 8K resolution, which makes screens clearer. This enthusiasm has given way to unease amid rumours that the factory is for sale. The local authority in Zengcheng said it had not received any information about a potential sale and that the factory was still on schedule. The original plan called for it to begin operations next month. One source with direct knowledge of the project’s progress said that everyone involved was now “a bit embarrassed” about the uncertain future. “It wouldn’t be an easy sale, everyone knows,” the source said. […] Peng Peng, vice-president of a Guangdong-based non-governmental think tank, said the Chinese factory would turn from a blessing into a curse if Gou were to sell and no buyer could be found. “If the project is abandoned, the impact on the local economy will be enormous,” he said. In addition to direct economic losses, the Guangdong government’s plan of creating “clusters of related supply chains” would vanish. (read more) That Friday night dinner between President Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook takes on a greater depth of context and makes a lot more sense: …If you plant your tree in another man’s orchard, don’t be surprised when you have to pay for your own Apples….