Even as Apple has been shifting some of its manufacturing and supply-chain strategies for the iPhone in response to US-imposed tariffs against China, the world’s biggest tech company has another tariff issue it may need to content with.
President Donald Trump posted on TruthSocial Friday that a tariff of “at least 25% must be paid by Apple” if the company doesn’t manufacture and build iPhones in the US.
The post reads in full:
I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else. If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your for your attention to this matter!
The post follows previous comments made by the president about Apple CEO Tim Cook in which he said, “I said to him, Tim, you’re my friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion but now I hear you building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.”
Trump said at the time that Cook promised to increase iPhone manufacturing in the US, but experts have said that full iPhone production based in the US would take years and would probably not apply to some of the company’s more advanced iPhone models, which would still be primarily made in China.
Earlier this year, the US imposed steep tariffs against exports from China, but rolled back some of them for 90 days. An exemption was made for smartphones and computers, but it’s unclear if that will hold and for how long.
A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Will Apple submit to demands?
Even with pressure from the president, Apple could ignore the comments, at least on the iPhone front, and continue with its plans to shift manufacturing and assembly of its flagship product from China to countries including India and Vietnam.
“We don’t expect the comments to alter how Apple manages long-term manufacturing plans (shifting more iPhone production to India),” said Angelo Zino, senior vice president and equity analyst at CFRA Research.
Zino says there’s still lots of tariff news to come, including an investigation into semiconductors that could spur another tariff move on chips coming into the US.
“We don’t take much away from the headlines outside of the fact that the Trump/Cook relationship may be slowly deteriorating,” Zino says.
“Still, we expect Tim Cook to simmer recent escalation by bringing more production into the US (we think the key is chip production, not iPhones) and we believe Apple could raise iPhone prices once it gets more clarity on the tariff landscape,” he said.
