For several months, a high-intensity presidential campaign has been taking place between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s vice president and the 45th President of the United States, who are competing to try to be elected on November 5, 2024 as head of the country. If Trump and Harris both occupy the news channels all day, this is also the case for their vice presidents who have already been chosen and who are campaigning alongside them. On Trump’s side we find JD Vance and on the other, Tim Waltz.
JD Vance’s Huge Interview Mistake
JD Vance, who until then had been running a nearly flawless campaign, without any real controversy, saw things turn around recently. Chosen as Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate for the 2024 US presidential election, he made serious accusations against Apple during an interview on CNBC.
Many people have the image of Apple as a company that exploits docile workers in precarious situations by making them work in catastrophic working conditions. What is certain is that wages are low and the days are much longer than our 7 hours in France on 35-hour contracts. However, Apple ensures that its partners in Asia respect employees by providing them with decent wages for the sector, good working conditions and above all that they are not exploited, without being able to resign or be paid for their daily production.
The problem is that JD Vance openly stated that Apple benefits from the labor of “Chinese slaves,” which is obviously false. Donald Trump’s vice president, who does not rely on any source to state this, promoted false information on a show watched by millions of Americans in broad daylight.
A very different reality
Let’s not hide it, if Apple produces in countries like China, India or Vietnam, it is mainly to reduce the manufacturing costs of its products and maximize its margin. However, this does not mean that the company is not concerned about the working conditions of the people who assemble hundreds of thousands of its products every day to ship them around the world.
On the Apple website, we find several official statements Regarding forced labor in partner factories in Asia, Apple states:
Apple takes the issue of modern slavery and forced labor in its Asian supply chain seriously. The company regularly conducts rigorous audits of its suppliers to ensure compliance with its Code of Conduct. These inspections include physical factory visits, interviews with employees, and in-depth reviews of records to verify that workers’ rights are being respected. Audit results are followed by corrective action plans, including for serious violations, which must be corrected immediately.
Apple partners with organizations like the Fair Labor Association (FLA) to conduct independent audits of factories, including Foxconn. These inspections assess working conditions, safety, working hours, and wages. Apple has also implemented tools to monitor hiring practices across its supply chain.
If in his televised interventions JD Vance has a generally relevant speech with information very often verified before being discussed in front of the cameras, Donald Trump’s vice-president has this time communicated completely erroneous information and made very serious accusations against Apple which nevertheless makes considerable efforts to avoid any mistreatment among its subcontractors. It also produces each year a manifesto concerning the quality of work within the company and among its partners.
