If you thought you'd heard the end of Donald Trump's tariffs, think again. Last week, the US President claimed he told Apple's Tim Cook to not build iPhones in India. Trump wants all smartphones to be built in the US, and he's prepared to impose a new tariff to get his way.
According to Bloomberg (via Engadget), US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Apple unless it moved iPhone production to the US. Trump later suggested that the tariff could be extended to other smartphone companies like Samsung or Google. In his words, the tariff will apply to "anybody that makes that product (smartphones), otherwise it wouldn't be fair". He also suggested that the tariff could start at the end of June 2025.
So, why the tariff game again? For your info, the majority of iPhone manufacturing is done in China. Apple considered moving production for US-bound iPhones to India in April after the initial announcement of the 145% tariff on imports from China. Although it has since been reduced to 30%, Apple's plan to move some iPhone manufacturing to India still makes financial sense, as it would help the company avoid the tariff on China.
Similarly, Google Pixel phones are mostly made in China, while the majority of Samsung phones come from Vietnam. If the US imposes this 25% tariff on all smartphones made in other countries, it would significantly increase retail prices for smartphones sold there. Despite that, the chances of these companies moving their manufacturing to the US aren't high because the cost would be exorbitant. It's also not something that can be done within a short time.
Could this threat force smartphone companies to move their factories to the US? Or could we see another pause? Let us know what you think in the comments, and stay tuned to TechNave for more updates on this.
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