President Donald Trump has warned Apple CEO Tim Cook that not manufacturing iPhones in the United States will result in a minimum tariff of 25% on Apple goods.
In a post shared via TruthSocial on Friday, the President said: “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.”
Later on Friday, when speaking to reporters at the White HouseTrump said his tariffs could apply to more than just Apple. “It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair,” he said. Trump estimated that it would start by “the end of June.”
“Again, when they build their plants here [in the U.S.]there’s no tariff,” Trump emphasized. “I had an understanding with Tim that he wouldn’t be doing this. He said he’s going to India to build plants, I said: ‘That’s OK to go to India, but you’re not going to sell it to here without tariffs.’ That’s the way it is.”
In an interview on Fox NewsU.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “I think that one of our greatest vulnerabilities is this external production, especially in semiconductors. And a large part of Apple’s components are in semiconductors. So we would like to have Apple help us make the semiconductor supply chain more secure.”
Trump previously raised the issue of Apple manufacturing abroad, particularly in India, during his three-country tour of the Middle East.
At a business roundtable in Qatar on Thursday, May 15, Trump said: “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday, I said to him: ‘Tim, you’re my friend. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.’”
In February, Apple announced that it would be spending more than $500 billion in the U.S over the next four years. This was slated to include investment in a new factory in Texas, a manufacturing academy, as well as spending in AI and silicon engineering.
Whilst Trump is hopeful that Apple could shift more production to the U.S. in order to avoid tariffs, such a change in manufacturing could take time. Analysts estimate that up to 90% of iPhones are assembled in China, and the devices are made up of 1,000 from countries across the globe.
If iPhones were made in the U.S., would consumers feel the impact?
The likely rise in the retail price of the product has long been a sticking point when it comes to discussing the possibility of having iPhones produced in the U.S.
In response to Trump’s tariffs threat, Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimated via social media that if iPhone production were to move Stateside, the cost of the product could rise to $3,500. Therefore, consumers risk being significantly impacted.
The news comes at a time when U.S. consumers are already bracing themselves to feel the impact of Trump’s existing tariffs.
On May 15, Walmart’s chief financial officer John David Rainey warned that the retailer may have to soon start raising prices as the U.S. tariffs are “still too high.”
“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” Rainey said in an interview with CNBC. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that [consumers are] going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”
Trump issued a defiant response, telling the retailer to “eat the tariffs.”
“Walmart should stop trying to blame tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers,” he said via Truth Social.
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