Trump threatens Apple with a 25 percent iPhone tariff
1 min read
Summary
After telling the FT last week that he had a “little problem with Tim Cook”, Donald Trump has now reiterated his stance on Apple’s production aims on his own Truth Social platform, threatening the firm with a 25% tariff on iPhones unless it builds products in the US, rather than in China or India, for example.
Apple has been diversifying its production for a few years, notably in spatially distant countries like India and Vietnam, and the ongoing US-China tariffs and trade war, as well as the covid pandemic, have provided further impetus for this goal.
However, Apple has also pledged to invest $500bn in the US over the next four years, and while it is clearly not going to shift all iPhone production to the US, it may have to consider US-based assembly for some products if it wants to avert a tariff fight with the Trump camp.