SOURCE : NEW18 NEWS
Last Updated:May 24, 2025, 11:39 IST
Making in US will also be much more expensive than assembling iPhones in India, say analysts after Trump’s threat to put 25% tariff on iPhones produced in India or anyplace else.
US President Donald Trump has said iPhones sold in the US should be manufactured domestically or face a steep 25% tariff if built in India or anyplace else. (File Photo)
US President Donald Trump’s idea to produce within the country all iPhones sold in the US or put a 25 per cent tariff otherwise is expected to increase the price of an iPhone in America by 250 per cent to roughly $3,500 per unit, according to analysts. They said shifting production to the US will simply send the iPhone costs soaring, which currently stands at nearly $1,000.
“Currently, an iPhone costs nearly $1,000. Now, imagine all iPhones are produced in America… It would cost $3,500,” CNN senior data analyst Harry Enten said.
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Currently, most iPhones are assembled in China, with India emerging as a major alternative.
“The idea that the tariffs would make the phones produced in the US to be perfect is a fantasy island. What would actually happen is that Apple would either: a) eat the tariff cost, or b) pass it on to the consumers. But, it will not resolve what Donald Trump actually wants. It will simply drive costs for American consumers. Do you things American people like the idea of prices going up?” Enten added.
President Trump proposed that Apple build its iPhones in the U.S. or face a 25% tariff. Tech analysts say that would balloon prices to $3,500 per phone. CNN senior data analyst Harry Enten breaks down the impacts. pic.twitter.com/5dSeenZ4dI— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) May 24, 2025
US President Donald Trump on Friday said iPhones sold in the United States should be manufactured domestically or face a steep 25 per cent tariff if built in India or anyplace else.
On Trump calling for Apple to shift iPhone production from India to the US, research firm Counterpoint Research Research Director Tarun Pathak had said last week that “this is a familiar Trump tactic: He wants to push Apple to localise more and build a supply chain in the US, which is not going to happen overnight. Making in the US will also be much more expensive than assembling iPhones in India.”
Counterpoint Research Vice President Neil Shah said that Apple has been doing a lot of groundwork in India, which has helped it successfully manage some of the US iPhone demand from its India production facilities.
“In terms of capacity, India has enough to potentially meet all US iPhone demand in the future, but the ecosystem needs to be ramped up. We will see more efforts towards this as well as products beyond iPhones. We expect made-in-India iPhones to account for 25%-30% of global iPhone shipments in 2025, as compared to 18% in 2024,” he said.
In the latest post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump wrote, “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones 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 US. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Following this, the shares of iPhone maker Apple declined over 3 per cent to close at $195.27 apiece.
Just last week, Trump had said in Doha during his visit to the Middle East that he had told the Apple CEO to not build in India and instead build its manufacturing capacity in the US. “We have Apple, as you know, that’s coming in, and I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump had said in Doha in remarks to top executives.
“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. You can build in India if you want to take care of India because India is the highest, one of the highest tariff nations in the world. It’s very hard to sell into India. And they’ve (India) offered us a deal where, basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff,” he had said.
Earlier this month, Cook had said in a Q2 2025 Earnings Conference call that the existing tariffs that apply to Apple today are based on the product’s country of origin.
“For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin and Vietnam to be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods products sold in the US,” Cook had said.
(With inputs from agencies)
- First Published:
May 24, 2025, 11:32 IST
