Apple CEO Tim Cook, left, and President Donald Trump will speak to the media on November 20, 2019 during a tour of the Flextronics Computer Manufacturing Facility in Austin, Texas, where Apple’s Mac Pro is being assembled.
Mandelungan | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said in a social media post Friday apple You must pay a customs duties of 25% or more on iPhones made outside the US.
“I have informed Tim Cook a long time ago that I expect the iPhone iPhones for sale in the United States to be manufactured and built in the United States, not in India or elsewhere. If not, you will have to pay at least 25% customs duties to the United States.”
Apple’s shares fell about 3% on Friday after the post.
Apple’s flagship phones are primarily produced in China, but the company is shifting its manufacturing industry to India as the country has a more friendly trade relationship with the US.
Some Wall Street analysts estimate that moving iPhone production to the US will raise Apple smartphone prices at least 25%. Wedbush’s Dan Ives has put an estimated cost of $3,500 for a US iPhone. The iPhone 16 Pro is currently on sale for around $1,000.
Trump told reporters Friday afternoon that tariffs will also apply to other smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung, and will begin at the end of June.
“I knew Tim wouldn’t be doing this. He said he’d go to India to build the plants. He said it would be okay to go to India, but you’re not going to sell it here without tariffs, so that’s right,” Trump said.
This is Trump’s Apple’s latest jab, and has been cooking to pressure the company over the past few weeks to increase domestic production. According to Politico, Apple CEOs Trump and Cook met at the White House on Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that he was not part of a White House meeting, but that the situation for Apple could be part of the Trump administration’s push to bring “precision manufacturing” back to the US.
“Most of Apple’s components are in semiconductors, so we want to help Apple make its semiconductor supply chain safer,” says Bessent.
Cook handed over $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and attended the inauguration ceremony in January. Apple has announced $500 billion in spending on US development, including the production of AI servers in Houston.
Apple declined to comment on the story.
In its May 1 revenue report, the company said it expects additional tariffs to be around $900 million for this quarter. In a call to the company’s revenue, Cook said the tariff outlook was “very difficult to predict” in June past.
Foxconn, one of Apple’s leading iPhone Assembly Partners, is spending $1.5 billion on expanding its Indian facility, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
Trump has publicly criticised, including other major US companies. Walmartduring his trade war, however, the collection of certain consumer products is a new step. The exact legal mechanism of customs duties is unknown.
Trump follows his post on Apple, with another asking for a 50% tariff on products from the European Union. To sum it up, it shows that trade tensions will rise again after the US temporarily lowers many of its taxes, including an agreement with China.
Apple also had to navigate the tariff threat during Trump’s first term, when a 15% tariff on Chinese imports was considered in 2019. At the time, Cook had strong ties with Trump, and the final trade agreement removed Apple products from his duties.
With Apple getting caught up in the US president’s crosshairs, the company sees demand in China as well. On Friday, the company hiked trade-in incentives for its iPhone in China.
