Donald Trump has threatened to implement a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not produced in the United States.
The president wiped out approximately $70 billion (£52 billion) in company stock following a post about the Truth Social platform, emphasizing that iPhones sold in the US must be manufactured within the country.
Trump stated: “I have notified Apple’s Tim Cook that I expect iPhones available for sale in the United States to be produced domestically, rather than in India.”
Following Trump’s comments, Apple’s stock dropped by 2.6%, slightly below the company’s valuation, coming in just under $3 trillion.
Apple is not the only one affected. In statements made to a White House reporter on Friday, Trump either imposed a 25% tariff on Samsung and other phone manufacturers producing outside the US or labeled it as “unfair.”
“When they set up plants here, there will be no tariffs; hence, they will build here,” Trump remarked.
Last month, Trump cautioned Apple investors with a series of tariff announcements targeting Chinese products, with the cumulative tariff reaching 145%. However, shortly afterward, his administration announced an exemption for smartphones and computers.
Reports indicated that Apple intended to relocate all iPhone assembly for the US market to India, trying to mitigate the repercussions of Trump’s trade conflict with China.
Apple’s CEO, Cook, mentioned in a revenue call this month that the majority of iPhones sold in the US during the June quarter had “India” as their country of origin. While the company keeps its production details confidential, analysts suggest that around 90% of smartphones are assembled in China.
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The US constitutes Apple’s largest iPhone market, with over 60 million mobile phones sold annually.
This month, Trump criticized high-tech companies and their CEOs via social media. “I had a slight issue with Tim Cook,” he remarked. “We aren’t interested in you producing in India; India can manage on its own… We want you to manufacture here.”
Experts caution that relocating iPhone production to the United States could be prohibitively costly, citing the lack of facilities and flexible labor for Apple to utilize compared to China. Financial services firm Wedbush Securities noted last month that an iPhone produced in the US would cost three times more than the current price of $3,500.
Source: www.theguardian.com
