It’s no secret that US President Donald Trump wants Apple to make its iPhones in the US. But is that feasible? Maybe with some heavy investing and a few more years. But for now, Apple is making its iPhones in countries like China and India, and Trump isn’t too pleased with that.
Apple making iPhones in India
Trump recently made some comments to the press where he expressed his dissatisfaction with Apple CEO Tim Cook. “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, my friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India.”
Trump also said, “I said, Tim look, we treated you really good, we put up with all the plants that you build in China for years, now you got build us. We’re not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves, we want you to build here.”
Apple’s decision to manufacture iPhones in India is not motivated by a desire to escape or reduce the upcoming Trump tariffs. Apple has long diversified its supply chain, as many companies normally do, in a bid to reduce reliance on a single company or a single country. In addition to China and India, Apple also has factories in Vietnam, which help assemble products like the iPad and Apple Watch. The company also has factories located in the US. However, its US operations aren’t quite as big compared to China or India. This might be why Trump isn’t too happy with Cook’s current supply chain strategy.
The question is, now that Trump has expressed his unhappiness, will he do something about it? Trump did refer to Apple’s plan to invest $500 billion in the US. However, based on his recent comments, it sounds like he wants more.
Tech companies designing strategies amid uncertainty
Companies like Apple are finding themselves in a tough spot. If they want to cut tariffs, they must bring more manufacturing back to the US. However, Apple has expressed multiple times over the years that the task isn’t so easy. In addition to being more affordable, China also has the skills and facilities needed to produce Apple’s products.
This means that even if Apple wanted to bring more manufacturing back to the US, building up the facilities and training personnel will take time and serious investment. It could also have the negative side effect of making its products more expensive.
