Apple ramps up India plan
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Apple is reportedly moving on a plan to drastically and quickly ramp up iPhone assembly out of India, all but eliminating U.S. imports of the phones from China by the end of 2026.
- The big picture: The move suggests that Apple — whose CEO, Tim Cook, has kept close to President Trump — is not holding its breath for any favorable end to the Trump-China trade war.
Zoom in: Apple sells around 60 million iPhones in the U.S. each year, around 28% of those it produces, according to FT, which first reported the company's plan today.
- Since Covid, Apple had already been beefing up iPhone assembly in India as part of a supply-chain diversification plan, but it still primarily relies on China for output.
- Apple's new plan to pivot harder to India calls for doubling its current output in the country by the end of next year, to 80 million units, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
State of play: Trump's total tariffs on China imports currently add up to 145%, although smartphones had received an exception to the largest slice, the broad reciprocal tariffs announced April 2.
- Flashback: The April 2 announcement had Apple flying planes full of iPhones out of China to the U.S. ahead of the sky-high levies, and consumers rushing to buy them before prices potentially skyrocketed.
The latest: The world's number 1 and 2 economic powers are still engaged in a public standoff on trade, and where tariffs will ultimately land is an unknown.
- A trade agreement with India, meanwhile, could be close. Vice President JD Vance Monday said the two countries "made very good progress" on a deal, and had finalized the "terms of reference" for the talks.
